Latrell Jossell to transfer to Stephen F. Austin: ‘I will always have love for KU.’
Kansas freshman point guard Latrell Jossell, who entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal on April 8, has decided to play basketball next season at Stephen F. Austin, he announced on Friday.
Jossell, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound Chicago native who graduated from Keller Central High School in Fort Worth, Texas, played 28 total minutes in 11 games for the 21-9 Jayhawks. For the season he took just 10 shots, making four. He had two assists and two turnovers.
Jossell told The Star in a phone interview Friday he chose Stephen F. Austin over Wichita State and Southern Illinois.
“They were recruiting me hard. Coach (Kyle Keller, former KU hoops coaching staff member now at SFA) broke a lot of things down for me and talked to me a lot the past couple of days. We built a relationship there,” Jossell said.
“Being close to home is a big part of it. It’s a school that has always beat the odds. I’m ready to do it with them, ready to show what I can do,” Jossell added.
Keller’s Stephen F. Austin team defeated then-No. 1-ranked Duke, 85-83, in overtime, on Nov. 28, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina.
“There wasn’t any promise of minutes or anything. I will work no matter the circumstances. I look to be healthy and show what I can do,” Jossell said.
Jossell, who had a foot injury in high school, also was hobbled by the same injury at KU. He had surgery recently to fix a heel problem and is expected to be 100% in about eight weeks.
“I had to take some time off to let it heal,” he said. “I tried to play through it, now I’ll let it completely heal. so I can be 100%.”
Even though he played very little, Jossell said he enjoyed his year with the Jayhawks.
“It was amazing, one of the best years of my life,” Jossell said. “I made a connection with the coaches and the players. It was a great choice, a great experience.”
Of his minutes, he said: “It’s probably a mix of having people ahead of me and injury.”
Jossell said he ultimately made the decision to transfer after his postseason meeting with coach Bill Self.
“That’s my man. My love for Coach Self is there for sure,” Jossell said. “He is honest, truthful, straight-up always. It’s why I came here. We met and talked about everything, how to look in the future, how next year could go. I thought about everything we talked about and thought it’d be best I go where I could play the most.”
Jossell will be immediately eligible at Stephen F. Austin. The school is located in Nacogdoches, Texas, which is about 200 miles from Fort Worth.
The NCAA has passed a new rule which allows players in the transfer portal a one-time transfer with immediate eligibility.
“I feel the transfer portal will change college basketball. It could be for the better or worse,” Jossell said. “I would say it may have made it (decision to leave) a little bit harder (if he was not immediately eligible to play at SFA). With the transfer rule it makes it easier for players to make that decision.”
Of the huge number of players in the portal (1,450 as of Friday afternoon), Jossell said: “It’s a way for coaches to make a team better, grab somebody who can play right away. It can be good for both players, coaches.”
There is a chance KU could play Stephen F. Austin in the future. The two teams were supposed to meet in 2020-21. However the game was wiped off the schedule because of the pandemic. Nothing has yet been set up regarding a KU-SFA game in the immediate future.
“I will always have love for KU, always,” Jossell said. “It has a special place in my heart. I enjoyed my time here. I will root for them (Jayhawks). As for now I’ll stick with who I’m with,” he added of Stephen F. Austin. “I’ll do all I can to help us win games.”
