KU’s Self, Roberts familiar with new signee Bryce Thompson’s family
Owner of an outgoing, engaging personality, Kansas assistant basketball coach Norm Roberts insists he “loves” the recruiting duties associated with his job.
“Recruiting is always fun,” Roberts, who has assisted Bill Self not only at KU, but Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois and also ran his own program at St. John’s for six years, said Wednesday night in an interview with The Star.
While savoring relationships made all over the map in recruiting high school and junior college players, the 54-year-old Roberts acknowledges the just-completed, successful three-year pursuit of Tulsa (Oklahoma) Booker T. Washington High School senior guard Bryce Thompson proved a bit more enjoyable than many recruiting sagas.
“Honestly it was a little different because we were in Tulsa five years,” Roberts said. He worked with 17th-year KU coach Self two years at Oral Roberts and three at Tulsa.
“I got to know quite a few people there. There’s an affinity for that city and those people and Rod Thompson is a big part of that,” Roberts added of the dad of Bryce Thompson, Rivals.com’s No. 19-rated player in the Class of 2020 who on Wednesday signed a national letter-of-intent with KU, choosing the Jayhawks over Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and North Carolina.
Rod Thompson played point guard for Self and Roberts one year at Tulsa. Bryce’s grandfather, Marshall Rogers, played for former KU coach Ted Owens at KU in 1973.
“We already had a built in relationship with him (Rod) a long time and his wife Goldie — they were at school (Tulsa) at the same time — Goldie was a volleyball player and Rod a basketball player. We knew Bryce and the family (because) Rod has always done a great job of staying in touch with us and we’ve stayed in touch with them. It’s obviously fun to see people you know (while recruiting).”
The feelings were mutal for Rod and Goldie Thompson, who enjoyed visiting with familiar faces from their past the past three years at Bryce’s high school and AAU games.
Rod, who works as a TV color analyst in Oklahoma, also has run the Oklahoma Run PWP AAU program in Tulsa for many years.
“My first memory with Coach Self was in the (Tulsa) Union High School gym when I was a third-grader. Kansas was in Tulsa for a postseason game and I got to take a picture with him,” Bryce Thompson recalled in an interview with the Tulsa World on Tuesday after he announced for KU. He signed his national letter-of-intent Wednesday, the first day of the week-long signing period.
“That was my first time to meet Coach Self in person. Coach Self coached my dad. That means a lot. Their relationship has remained strong since my dad graduated in 1998. As one of Coach Self’s players, my dad knows coach Self’s level of expectation and the intensity he requires each time players take the floor. Coach Self is the type of coach I want to play for,” Bryce added.
Rod Thompson the past couple years in recruiting, “has been telling me everything about the coaches, how they were good to him. It was a big part. I built that relationship over the years (with Self) and I’m just glad,” Bryce said.
Rod Thompson said he’s savored all the meetings with his old college coaches the past three years and is looking forward to maintaining contact with the Jayhawks’ coaches during Bryce’s college years in Lawrence.
“It was a good experience, playing for those guys (Self, Roberts) and it’s been a good opportunity to see them recruit Bryce and now coach Bryce,” Rod told The Star Wednesday, just minutes after KU announced the receipt of Bryce’s national letter-of-intent.
“I’ve had a relationship with those guys a long time. When they’d come in (on recruiting trips) we could relate as far as talking about players. I’ve had former players they recruited. It was always good to be able to catch up, to be able to talk to those guys about basketball and what was going on,” Rod added.
Of course Rod’s former coaches would tease him now and then.
“My wife was a volleyball player. They (Self, Roberts) always said she was a better athlete than I was. That’s where Bryce got his athleticism from,” Rod Thompson said.
So who’s the better basketball player? Bryce or his dad?
“Uh, uh, I would say Bryce. His dad wouldn’t agree,” Roberts said. “Bryce probably because of his size, athleticism, length. His dad was probably much more a point guard than Bryce (who is known as a big-time scorer).”
Rod laughed when asked his take on the issue of who’s the better player.
“I tell him he is a pretty good player. He has a little way to go to catch dad,” Rod Thompson said. “I briefly played pro ball, not anything to write home about.”
Self and Roberts believe the sky is the limit for Bryce, who averaged 19.6 points, 5.2 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game as a junior in leading Booker T. Washington to the state title.
“He can play on the ball, off the ball. He can do a lot of things,” Roberts said of Bryce Thompson. “Coach Self has had a lot of success with combo guards. He’s one of those guys who has a chance to be really good.”
Roberts noted that in the last three years, “Bryce has improved tremendously. He keeps getting better and better, stronger and stronger. He’s added something to his game every year. He’s added stuff all the time. It’s a great tribute to his dad, high school coach, everybody around him who supported him to get better.”
Self noted: “ His development has really taken off the last couple years. He’s grown to 6-5. He’s a lead guard and scoring guard. We’ve had some of our best success with these type of combo guards. He’s going to bring energy to our program and he’s going to bring talent. We anticipate him being an impact player for us.”
Thompson averaged 25.3 points a game on 54 percent shooting (47 percent from three) for Oklahoma Run PWP on the Under Armour Circuit this past season.
“Coach Self told him he loves Bryce’s versatility as a combo guard. Shooting it really separates him with his playmaking,” Rod Thompson told The Star. “He said he would fit in with their core group of guys.”
Bryce Thompson has been referred to as the best prospect in Oklahoma since Trae Young, who played one year at Oklahoma then was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
This begs the question: How long is Thompson planning on staying in college before heading to the pros? One year like Young? More?
“We’ve talked about that,” Rod Thompson said of he and his son. “We’ve always had the approach, ‘When you are ready you’ll be ready.’ His skill set is pretty good. He needs to get stronger, has things to work on. I think one day he’ll get there. He knows we haven’t set a timetable, one year, two years, if it takes four. You’ll know when you are ready. It’s OK to look to the future but concentrate on now.”
One thing the Thompsons, of course, hope they won’t have to deal with in the near future is possible NCAA sanctions being assessed to KU’s program. The Jayhawks recently received a notice of allegations from the NCAA.
It’s possible KU will be hit with sanctions starting next season, though KU’s Self and KU AD Jeff Long have said the university will rigorously present a case that they’ve committed no rules violations.
“It’s definitely something you look at,” Rod Thompson told The Star. “My wife was probably more concerned about it than Bryce was. Giving him all the information, letting him know what could happen. He made that decision (to attend KU). He understands what comes with it. It’s going to be his decision down the stretch and go from there.”
Bryce presented his position on possible future KU penalties in a statement he gave the Tulsa World:
“I am aware of the controversy currently surrounding Kansas. It did concern me a bit at the beginning, until I went on my visit and I was able to talk face-to-face with some of the administration, including athletic director Jeff Long,” Thompson said.
“My mom doesn’t play. She asked every question in the book. Mr. Long was able to answer them directly and stayed on point. He didn’t veer off into some other conversation. I appreciated that.”
For now, Bryce hopes to lead Booker T. Washington to a state title his senior year and perhaps land an invite to the McDonald’s All America game. Then it’s off to KU next summer to begin his college career with new teammates including newcomers in a strong recruiting class currently ranked No. 8 nationally by Rivals.com.
KU has landed combo guard Thompson, juco wing Tyon Grant-Foster and high school big man Gethro Muscadin and may add another guard, Latrell Jossell of Keller, Texas, during the early signing period that runs until next Wednesday. The three-star Jossell received a scholarship offer from KU on Wednesday and said he plans on signing in the early period.
“I enjoyed my time with the players while on my official visit. I like their uptempo style of play and hope to contribute as a freshman,” Bryce said. “Coach is going to push you. He’s going to make sure he gets every drop out of you. At the end of the day he’s going to love you like a son.”
