How Kansas City Royals pitcher Amir Garrett almost played for KU Jayhawks’ Bill Self
Had it not been for the bright lights and allure of The Big Apple, Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Amir Garrett might have been part of a Final Four team for the Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball program under Hall of Fame coach Bill Self.
A 6-foot-5 left-hander the Royals acquired from the Cincinnati Reds via trade, Garrett made his major-league debut in 2017. But in a previous sporting life, Garrett garnered attention as an uber athletic wing player on the hardwood capable of playing above the rim.
“It was down to Oregon, Kansas and St. John’s,” Garrett said in the Royals clubhouse where the Kansas-Creighton NCAA Tournament game played on a television screen following Saturday’s spring training workout. “Those were my top three.”
Ranked a top 100 player in his class by both Rivals.com (No. 68) and 247 Sports (No. 72), Garrett was a four-star recruit as part of the freshman class of 2011-12. The Reds had already drafted him in the MLB Draft in June 2011.
Garrett had been an all-state selection in California and CIF SS Division I-A co-player of the year with Delon Wright, who went on to be a first-round draft pick in the NBA after a standout college career at Utah. Garrett transferred as a high school senior to play for a nationally-ranked Findlay Prep squad in Nevada.
“I had a visit lined up,” Garrett said of Kansas. “I took a visit to Oregon, but then when I went to St. John’s I was stuck on the city of New York. I didn’t even make it out to Kansas. Once I went to New York, I had never seen an environment like that — the city. I just fell in love with it immediately, and I committed.”
Kansas included another draw for Garrett. His cousin, Christian, joined the program as a walk-on in the spring of 2010. The two would have been teammates. Christian stayed with the program through the 2014-15 season.
But New York’s draw proved too strong.
“We had seven freshmen, so that was an opportunity for me,” Garrett said of St. John’s. “It’s so different. I mean, Kansas has always been a top dog. Back then, St. John’s wasn’t really anything. Neither was Oregon. I just fell in love with New York.”
Garrett came into St. John’s as part of the first class recruited by Steve Lavin.
ESPN.com ranked the St. John’s recruiting class No. 2 in the nation behind only the Kentucky class that included Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist went first and second overall, respectively, in the 2012 NBA Draft.
That Kentucky team beat Kansas for the 2012 national championship in New Orleans.
Lavin wasn’t able to coach the team on a full-time basis during Garrett’s first season as he recovered from prostate cancer treatment and surgery. Associate head coach Mike Dunlap led the St. John’s program in Lavin’s place.
Garrett played for Lavin as a sophomore in 2012-13 while also being a prospect in the Reds farm system.
“Coach Lav was great about it,” Garrett said of his playing baseball. “He’d always tell me, ‘I don’t want you to get hurt. Play your game, but they’ve invested in you. Your money maker is your arm, so don’t get hurt.’
“He was really good about it. I had some good people around me at the time with the Reds, Steve Lavin. I had a lot of people who looked out for me.”
Garrett said he remains in contact with Lavin, now a college basketball television analyst.
“I talk to him all the time,” Garrett said. “That’s my guy. When we would play the Giants, I would leave him tickets. He’d come out and watch and stuff like that. Coach Lav says he’ll be with you forever, and he stands by that.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
