Sydney Curry reopens recruitment but two other Kansas Jayhawks transfers are official
Sydney Curry, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound sophomore power forward from John A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois who signed a national basketball letter-of-intent with Kansas on April 14, has decided to reopen his recruitment, he announced Wednesday on Twitter.
KU confirmed the news of Curry’s departure in a news release that included the addition of guards Remy Martin and Jalen Coleman-Lands, who announced plans to transfer to KU from Arizona State and Iowa State last week.
The Curry announcement means the Jayhawks men’s basketball team, which was one over the scholarship limit of 14 (counting Ochai Agbaji, Jalen Wilson and Martin, who have entered their names in the 2021 NBA Draft pool), currently has 13 scholarship players on the 2021-22 roster.
Curry played junior college basketball at John A. Logan College and committed to Kansas in November 2020.
“We enjoyed recruiting Sydney, getting to know him and his family, but also respect this decision and wish him well moving forward,” KU coach Bill Self said Wednesday.
Curry had this to say on Twitter: “After talking with my family and praying on this I have decided to reopen my recruitment. I want to make sure I have made the best decision for me and my future. I want to thank coach Self and Kansas for this great opportunity in asking me to be a part of it. I truly want to make sure I’m doing what is best by taking some more time to consider all my options.”
Curry did not respond to a request for further comment from The Star.
Curry averaged 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds a game this past season for 18-5 Logan. He hit 69.4% of his shots, but just 45.5% of his free throws.
KU has an abundance of big men in David McCormack, Mitch Lightfoot, Cam Martin, Zach Clemence, KJ Adams and walk-on Dillon Wilhite. KU has used a four-guard lineup extensively in the past few years. Lightfoot’s scholarship does not count against the limit of 13 because of his Super Senior status. The NCAA granted all players an extra year of eligibility in response to the pandemic.
Martin, a 6-0 senior point guard, was a first-team all-Pac 12 selection the past two seasons.
A native of Chatsworth, California, Martin has scored 1,754 career points with 466 all-time assists, 151 career steals and 176 three-point field goals made. He earned his sociology degree from Arizona State in 2020..
“We believe Remy to be one of the best lead guards in America,” Self said. “We watched him up close play back-to-back years when he led the Sun Devils to victories over us, both in Allen Fieldhouse and in Tempe. He has declared and is preparing for the NBA Draft but we know if the decision is made to return to school, we will welcome his talent and experience. His competitiveness will elevate others overnight. He would be a very high-energy leader on our team and within this campus.”
Coleman-Lands, a 6-4 senior, played one season at Iowa State. He began his college career playing two seasons at Illinois and transferred to DePaul, where he was a redshirt because of injury. He played one season in 2019-20. The Indianapolis native was a graduate transfer at Iowa State in 2020-21.
Coleman-Lands, 24, averaged 14.3 points per game in 2020-21. He led the Cyclones with 58 three-pointers made. Coleman-Lands has played in 133 games with 102 starts and 1,401 all-time points.
“I’m not even talking about Remy’s maturity because Jalen is two years older than Remy,” Self said. “Jalen is a college graduate who is pursuing his master’s degree. He’s very bright and can really shoot the basketball. This past season against us he scored 20 in both games and one of the games was a low-scoring game. We think he will give us great depth shooting the basketball on the perimeter. That is something we needed last year and we are addressing that which he is a big part of.
“Not since Brady Morningstar have I coached a young man that is 24 years old and will graduate at 25, but I think that maturity and experience will bode well with so many newcomers next season,” Self added.
New KU men’s basketball signees
KJ Adams, 6-7, 200, Fr., F, Austin, Texas (Westlake HS)
Zach Clemence, 6-10, 215, Fr., F, San Antonio, Texas, (Sunrise Christian Academy)
Jalen Coleman-Lands, 6-4, 190, Sr., G, Indianapolis, (La Lumiere HS, Illinois, DePaul, Iowa State)
Kyle Cuffe Jr., 6-2, 180, Fr., G, Toms River, New Jersey, (Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J.)
Cam Martin, 6-9, 240, Sr., F, Yukon, Oklahoma, (Yukon HS, Missouri Southern)
Remy Martin, 6-0, 175, Sr., G, Chatsworth, California, (Sierra Canyon HS, Arizona State)
Bobby Pettiford, 6-1, 175, Fr., PG, Fr, Durham, North Carolina, (South Granville HS)
Joseph Yesufu, 6-0, 180, Soph., G, Bolingbrook, Illinois, (Bolingbrook HS, Drake)
