Latrell Jossell, a point guard from Central High in Keller, Texas to play hoops at KU
Latrell Jossell, a 6-foot-0, 160-pound, three-star senior point guard from Central High in Keller, Texas, on Thursday night orally committed to play basketball at Kansas.
He is scheduled to sign his national letter-of-intent at a school assembly on Friday morning.
Jossell, who is not ranked at this time by Rivals.com, first reported on Twitter on Wednesday — the first day of the week-long national letter-of-intent signing period — that he had received a scholarship offer from KU. He also used Twitter to declare for KU on Thursday night, writing: “1000% COMMITTED.” Included was a highlight video ending with him posing in a No. 4 KU jersey.
Jossell — who attended the 2019 Late Night in the Phog as part of an unofficial visit to KU — told The Star, “I loved everything about it. The fans were into it. I loved meeting the players and talking to coach (Bill) Self and his assistants.”
“KU was the first school to offer,” Jossell added, “but I’ve had heavy interest from Longwood, Georgia State, South Dakota State, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, New Mexico, Southern Illinois and Louisiana Tech.”
He is an AAU teammate of KU big man signee Gethro Muscadin, a 6-10 forward out of Aspire Academy in Louisville, Kentucky.
For sure he’s enthused about playing college basketball at KU with his good friend who is originally from Haiti.
“This is a dream come true for me,” Jossell, who is originally from Chicago, told The Star on Thursday night. “This is crazy. It’s unreal,” he exclaimed.
“A lot of people said I was overlooked, under-recruited. Coach Howard (Jerrance, KU assistant) told me a lot of highly-rated players go to big-name schools and don’t make it. He told me to not worry about that, just continue to work hard.
“What’s important to me,” Jossell continued, “is they (KU coaches) came to see me two or three times (along with watching AAU games) and said they believe I have the talent to play there. I put in a lot of work in the summer and the years I’ve been at Central, and it’s paid off.”
Central High coach Gerald Sledge said KU is getting a standout player in Jossell.
“He has exceptional ball-handling skills and is a great decision-maker playing off ball screens with the ability to score as well at all three levels,” Sledge told The Star. “He also has the ability to break down his defender off the dribble to score and plays well in a motion offense where he can read screens.”
Jossell’s AAU coach, Vonzell Thomas of the YGC36 hoops program, believes KU has landed a gem in Jossell. Muscadin and Jossell helped the squad claim a 36-2 record and Adidas national championship during this past AAU season.
“Latrell is a high-character kid that others love to be around,” Thomas told The Star. “On the court he plays with a huge chip on his shoulder and a high understanding of the game. Kansas is a getting a kid that competes at a high level and will contribute on both ends of the floor, and besides (being) a high-level scorer he is an outstanding defender.”
Rivals.com’s Eric Bossi wrote this week that Jossell “is not the typical high end prospect you usually see Kansas involved with. He is a very good athlete, can shoot a bit from deep and plays really hard. Currently, I think he’s maybe more of a combo guard and might be more prepared to help out at a little bit lower level right out of the chute.
“But Bill Self has shown he can find under the radar guards and develop them. Does that mean he’s on the same path as say a Devonté Graham or Frank Mason who were once under the radar?
“No. It’s unreasonable to say or even remotely expect he turns into a national player of the Year candidate. But, guys like him with heart and a chip on his shoulder can often surprise after a few years in a good program with other good players around them,” Bossi added.
Jossell described his game to The Star on Thursday: “I can really shoot it,” he said. “One of my biggest assets is I can shoot it from anywhere, from deep. My athleticism started to kick in this summer. I can handle it, do a lot of stuff. Teams close out hard because they know I can shoot it. That’s when I pick it apart and find my teammates.”
Ones like Muscadin.
“He is one of the best bigs I’ve ever played with. He is huge, but quick,” Jossell said. “I can throw it up anywhere and he’ll get it.”
Jossell joins a KU recruiting class that includes Muscadin, who is ranked No. 131 in the class of 2020 by Rivals.com; Bryce Thompson, a 6-4 combo guard from Booker T. Washington High in Tulsa, Oklahoma ranked No. 19 and Tyon Grant-Foster, a 6-7 wing out of Indian Hills Community College, who is a preseason junior college All-American.
“I think we can accomplish a lot especially with this class coming in,” Jossell said.
KU, which entered the 2019-20 season with 12 scholarship players (one under the limit of 13), now projects to be one over the limit for next season following the departure of seniors Udoka Azubuike and Isaiah Moss.
One or more non-senior players are expected to turn pro following the 2019-20 season, meaning Self certainly is not through recruiting. KK Robinson, a 6-0 point guard from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, announced on Twitter on Thursday night he’d narrowed his list of schools to Arkansas and Kansas. He is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas and has been said to be favoring the Razorbacks for some time.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 10:18 PM.
