Bill Self on KU signee Johnny Furphy: ‘One of the most gifted, skilled young kids’ in 2023
Small forward Johnny Furphy has signed to play with the Kansas Jayhawks, KU basketball coach Bill Self announced Thursday via a release.
The Melbourne, Australia, native will be a freshman in the 2023-24 season.
Furphy played for Centre of Excellence (CoE), Basketball Australia’s development program hosted at the Australian Institute of Sport.
Originally a Class of 2024 recruit, Furphy has reclassified to the 2023 class. His play in various NBA Academy events in the United States, including the NBA Academy Games in Atlanta in early July 2023, caught Self’s attention.
“Johnny is a youngster that we saw in person for the first time at the NBA Academy Development camp in Atlanta during the July period, and then we saw him multiple times the next week in Las Vegas,” Self said in a release. “He is one of the most gifted, skilled young kids in the 2023 class and certainly as gifted and skilled as any player remaining that we could recruit. He’s been well trained at the Center of Excellence in Australia.
“He’s well beyond his years from his feel and basketball IQ standpoint. The platform at the NBA Global Academy has allowed him to be seen and recruited at this level. We are very excited about him and think his future is very bright.”
Furphy averaged 14.3 points and was 22 for 56 (39.3%) from 3-point range in 12 games played in 2023 for the CoE. He also averaged 5.6 rebounds.
