Lawrence
Graduation Day, the official end of the school year, has come and gone at the University of Kansas, meaning the returning Jayhawks men’s basketball players have been released to their hometowns for one of their rare breaks of the entire calendar year.
They have headed home, or in the case of NBA Draft hopefuls Christian Braun and Jalen Wilson, to training facilities in Santa Barbara, California, and Dallas respectively, with their return date to campus on or around June 7, first day of KU summer school.
Of course in their case they might not return at all.
Braun, a senior-to-be guard, and Wilson, a redshirt junior-to-be forward, must decide by June 1 whether to keep their names entered in the 2022 NBA Draft pool or remove their names and continue their college careers.
As far as the KU coaches … they in accordance with NCAA recruiting rules are not allowed to leave campus to evaluate high school/AAU prospects until June 17. This means KU head coach Bill Self and his assistants in theory have some down time ahead, at least until their players return for summer school and summer workouts.
So what’s on the upcoming to-do list for Self, who is set to begin his 20th season as KU coach?
“I’m going to watch David and Jalen,” Self said Sunday, referring to heading to Chicago on Monday to support David McCormack and Wilson at the NBA G League Elite Camp set for Monday and Tuesday. Also, former Texas Tech guard Kevin McCullar, who has entered the portal and narrowed his list of transfer possibilities to KU and Gonzaga, will also be participating in drills at the G League Elite Camp.
“We’ll watch Ochai and Christian at the Combine,” Self said of the NBA Combine, set for Wednesday through Sunday at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena. There is a chance McCormack and/or Wilson could be invited by NBA officials to participate in scrimmages at the NBA Combine. Top players at Elite Camp in the past have gained invitations to the Combine.
Self, whose 2022-23 KU roster currently consists of the NCAA-maximum 13 scholarship players, said the Jayhawks may still be in the market for one or two players, ostensibly from the 2022 transfer portal, depending on the final decisions of Wilson and Braun.
KU is one of six schools (KU, Louisville, Texas, Gonzaga, Purdue and Tennessee) in the running for former Iowa State ;point guard Tyrese Hunter and one of four (KU, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Mississippi State) believed to be in the running for former Missouri State guard Isiaih Mosley.
“We’d like to (add a player). It depends on what our guys do,” Self said.
Braun enters the NBA Combine as a likely first-round draft pick, at least according to the analysts who run the mock drafts. Wilson has not been listed as a first- or second-round pick in any of the mock drafts.
“There’s nothing definite (to report) right now,” Self said Sunday.
Arrival dates of KU freshmen
Incoming freshman Gradey Dick, a 6-7 guard from Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, tells The Star he likely will report to KU for summer school on June 4. Zuby Ejiofor, a 6-8 forward from Garland (Texas) High School, is slated to arrive June 11; MJ Rice, a 6-5 guard from Prolific Prep in California on June 10 and Ernest Udeh, a 6-10 forward from Dr. Phillips High in Orlando, Florida on June 3.
KU has also added a non-scholarship player in Wilder Evers, a 6-3 freshman guard from Oak Mountain High School in Birmingham, Alabama. He tells The Star his arrival date is June 4.
KU not planning overseas trip at this time
Kansas’ men’s basketball team, which is eligible to embark on an international trip this summer or fall, will not head overseas in coming months, Self said Sunday.
Teams are allowed to take an international trip every four years. KU played exhibition games in Switzerland and France in the summer of 2012 and in Italy in the summer of 2017.
“There’s too much going on, just winning it and everything else. It’s too fast,” Self said. “Next summer is a possibility. We may wait. We’re going to Atlantis (Bahamas in 2022-23 season) then Maui (2023-24). We may wait until we get done with Maui. That’s asking our fans to do a lot,” he added of traveling to Bahamas and Hawaii and add a trip to Europe in addition to that.
Champs to be honored at White House at some point
Self said Sunday no date has yet been set for the NCAA champions’ trip to the White House, where the 2021-22 Jayhawks will meet with the President.
“We’re going to go there,” Self said, noting both KU and White House officials are looking into a possible dates for the trip to D.C.
This story was originally published May 16, 2022 9:27 AM.
