Kansas Jayhawks offer men’s basketball scholarship to 7-foot center from Pennsylvania
Dereck Lively, a 7-foot-1, 220-pound junior center from Westtown School in Pennsylvania, has been offered a men’s basketball scholarship by Kansas, Team Final Nike has announced on Twitter.
Lively, the No. 24-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2022 by ESPN.com and No. 45-rated player by Rivals.com, helped Team Final place first at the Midwest Mania AAU Tournament last weekend in Indianapolis.
Lively played on the same squad as Jalen Duren, a 6-10 junior from Montverde (Florida) Academy, who is ranked No. 2 in the recruiting Class of 2022 according to Rivals.com. Various recruiting analysts expect Duren to turn pro after his senior season of high school basketball rather than attend college for a year.
Lively, a native of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, has heard from coaches from KU, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Michigan UCLA, Florida, Pitt, Memphis, Ohio State, LSU and others, according to Kentucky.Rivals.com.
“Not many teams in college, let alone AAU, have two big men like Dereck Lively and Jalen Duren for Team Final.” ESPN.com’s Jonathan Givony wrote from the Indy tournament on Twitter. “Duren has been terrific, as advertised. Lively has impressed with his improved skill and ability to hedge ball screens. Both guys putting a lid on the rim all weekend,” Givony added.
David Sisk of Kentucky.Rivals.com wrote that Lively, “can sprint baseline to baseline with any guard. He is incredibly coordinated and is a true rim protector. He is an explosive leaper which allows him to rim protect on one end and play above the goal on the other. That allows Lively to fit the bill with what coaches are looking for in the modern day big: rim-running, finishing on the pick-and-roll, rebounding, and blocking and altering shots.”
Sisk added: “Lively’s strengths right now are defense and athleticism. He can switch and guard multiple positions and he is also a great blitzer or doubler on ball screens. His shot isn’t broken. He has good form, but he is trying to grow into an improving mid-range and perimeter jumper.”
Kentucky could ultimately be the team to beat in the recruitment of Lively.
“If I go there, they could show me how to play more like (former UK forward) Anthony Davis, because Anthony Davis is my role model, “ Lively said of the Los Angeles Lakers standout to kentucky.rivals.com. “He can get to the rim. He can step behind the three. He can block shots. He can guard a guard. He’s an overall great big man.”
KU offers scholarship to Johnson
Maki Johnson, a 6-4 sophomore shooting guard from Huntington (West Virginia) Prep, has received a scholarship offer from KU, he reported on Twitter. Rivals.com has not yet released rankings for the Class of 2023.
He’s also heard from Indiana, Louisville, Auburn, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Xavier, Virginia Tech, Maryland and others.
“Coaches like that I’m a gym rat,” Johnson told scoopmantv.com. ““That’s what really makes me unique in the basketball world. Right now, I’m working on my shooting. My dad tells me, ‘Is a dunk worth more than a three?’ So he always makes me work on shooting. In the weight room, I’m just trying to gain weight and do explosive workouts,” he added.
TyTy Washington to play in all-star game
TyTy Washington, a 6-4 senior point guard from Compass Prep School in Chandler, Arizona, who has narrowed his list of prospective schools to KU, Baylor, Kentucky, Arizona, LSU and Oregon, will play in the 2021 Iverson Classic set for a 5 p.m. tipoff on May 8 in Bartlett, Tennessee.
One of his teammates in the game will be Hunter Sallis, a 6-5 senior combo guard from Millard North High School in Omaha, Nebraska, who has signed a letter-of-intent with Gonzaga. Sallis is ranked No. 7 nationally by Rivals.com.
Washington, the No. 32-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2021 according to Rivals.com, decommitted from Creighton on March 11 after committing to the Big East school on Nov. 15, 2020. On March 14 he indicated he’d been offered a scholarship by KU.
Washington at one time also considered Illinois, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas, Pitt and others.
His dad told The Star on Monday there was nothing new to report in the recruitment of Washington.
Of Washington, ESPN’s Givony said: “I like TyTy Washington a lot. He has an extremely high basketball IQ. He just really knows how to play. He’s a winner. He’s competitive. He makes other guys bette. He can shoot off the dribble. He’s got good size. He’s got length. He really has a lot of things that you look for from a point guard that age. I think his body is the main one, getting into better shape, which he’ll do in college.
“He’s not going to be jumping over people. He’s not the most explosive athlete around. He’s more of a play-at- different-speeds type of guy. I think his defense ... that’ll probably be the biggest transition for him, high school to college, just locking in defensively every possession. He did so much for his high school team that I don’t know if that was the biggest priority for him.”
McBride chooses Oral Roberts
Issac McBride, who committed to KU but left the Jayhawks program before the start of the 2019-20 season, has transferred from Vanderbilt to Oral Roberts, he told ESPN.com.
McBride, a 6-1 guard from Little Rock, Arkansas, will have four years of eligibility at ORU.
He averaged 4.7 points and 1.1 rebounds a game in 2020-21 at Vandy. He had 15 assists, 12 turnovers in 21 games. Overall he averaged 12.4 minutes per game. He hit 24 of 67 threes for 35.8%.
