Kansas hoops pledge Marcus Adams Jr. willing to ‘triple practice’ to earn rotation spot
Four-star Kansas Jayhawks pledge Marcus Adams Jr. doesn’t know his exact role for next season, but he isn’t too concerned about that.
All he wants to do is help the Jayhawks win.
It’s why he’s joining the KU men’s basketball team a year earlier than expected.
After No. 1-seeded KU lost 72-71 to No. 8 Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32., Adams reclassified to the Class of 2023. Now the No. 36-rated player in the Class of 2023 (per 247Sports), he will join the Kansas program in June.
A 6-foot-8, 205-pound junior small forward at Narbonne (Calif.) High School, Adams spoke with The Star about joining the Jayhawks in a Twitter Spaces Q&A last week.
Adams believes his presence will be pivotal for KU on and off the court.
“I’m a three-level scorer; I’m a pretty tall guy, probably considered a big guard,” he told The Star. “What I’m here to do is score the rock, play defense, pass the rock, create open looks — just win, ya know? I just want to win. I want to be a pretty good impact as soon as I get here.
“I always bring good vibes, positive vibes, never any negative. If we (are) feeling down, I am probably the one to bring everybody back up. I want to have that winning mentality — that positive mentality, as well.”
Adams is counting down the days till he arrives on campus. He hopes to be in Lawrence by June 12. That’s three days after he graduates from high school.
Despite his youth, the Kansas coaching staff has high expectations for Adams. According to Adams, he will play a pivotal role in helping replace All-American forward Jalen Wilson’s scoring (20.1 ppg).
“I believe they (the KU staff) told me I’d be between two to three (position-wise),” he said. “They said I am considered a big guard. Score the rock, hit some threes — get about 15+ (points) a game.”
Of course, it’s one thing to have high expectations and quite another to live up to them — something Adams saw firsthand with Kansas’ roster last season.
Five KU players (MJ Rice, Zach Clemence, Bobby Pettiford, Joseph Yesufu and Cam Martin) entered the transfer portal this offseason.
The first three, like Adams, came out of high school with high hopes at Kansas. But due to injuries or just not being ready for the college game, the trio never lived up to expectations.
Adams already has a plan for making an impact at KU next season. He averaged 28.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in 27 games during his junior season in high school.
“Work really hard every day; double-practice, triple-practice if I have to,” Adams said. “Whatever it takes to win. Whatever it takes to be a good player on the team. …Focusing on my body. Be a good teammate and good player.”
Though Adams is confident about next season, he knows he needs to improve in certain aspects.
“I need to work on my handle, my body — I’ve got a lot to work on,” he said. “Basically everything. It’s never enough to learn, you know? ... The more I work, the better I am going to get and the more I am going to get used to this next level.”
Perhaps the thing that Adams is most looking forward to is simply playing at historic Allen Fieldhouse.
“As soon as I walked past the path (tunnel) where players run into the court, I see the fieldhouse and I’m amazed,” he recalled of his first visit to the arena. “I’ve never seen anything like that. That is crazy stuff… like, wow. I was like, ‘Imagine me playing here.’
“The game (he attended) was lively the whole entire game. At the beginning, they were making a lot of noise to start the game and I couldn’t hear anything. My eardrums almost blew out. That blew my mind away.”
Adams even has a special request for Jayhawks fans: Keep that same energy when he dons a KU uniform next season.
“I feed off the energy and stuff like that,” Adams said. “If I have a good crowd, a good supporting fanbase on my side, I think I am unstoppable.”
This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
