Kansas freshman Lagerald Vick finds his footing during first summer on campus

LAWRENCE – It was early on Tuesday afternoon, and Bill Self pushed through a doorway into the Horejsi Family Athletics Center, where his Kansas men’s basketball team was running through ball-handling drills for a gym full of young summer campers.

A line of KU players stood on the near baseline, each dribbling two basketballs, while assistant coach Kurtis Townsend called out a series of instructions. Self found a spot a few feet away, nodding in the direction of incoming freshman Lagerald Vick.

“This kid is an athlete,” Self said.

After just five days on campus, the athleticism is indeed the first thing you notice about Vick, the least heralded (and least known) member of the Jayhawks’ 2015 recruiting class. Vick, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Memphis, is not a McDonald’s All-American like Cheick Diallo or Carlton Bragg. And he will not be one-and-done, like some of Kansas’ recent wing recruits. Two months ago, in fact, Vick wasn’t even sure if he would be on a college campus this fall. He had planned to go to prep school, a fallback of sorts when it was unclear if he would become academically eligible to enroll in college this year.

But here he is, a freshman at Kansas, dribbling two basketballs on a basketball court in June.

“Coming to Lawrence was probably the best thing that ever happened to me,” Vick says. “I just liked the Jayhawk family. The community is amazing, so I’ve not ever had a feeling like this.”

Before choosing Kansas, Vick visited the school in mid May, when it appeared likely that he would finish the necessary coursework to begin college in 2015. He also took an official visit to K-State and was slated to visit Kentucky, but when he showed up in Lawrence, with his mother La La along for the visit, he said it was already “70-30” that he would pick Kansas. Then he met with Self and his staff.

“He kept it real,” Vick says. “He told me what his standards were, and I agreed with it. So that’s what made me pick Kansas over everything else.”

Vick landed on campus for good last Sunday, moving into an on-campus apartment with fellow freshman Bragg while trying to find his footing. Then things started moving fast. One day later, the Jayhawks began practice for the World University Games. Three days later, Vick debuted in KU’s annual alumni scrimmage, which coincided with the final day of Self’s basketball camp on Wednesday. In the brief scrimmage, Vick drained one three-pointer and showcased some of the quick-twitch athleticism that his new head coach has raved about.

“He’s an athlete,” KU sophomore Devonte’ Graham said, echoing Self’s comments. “He has a quick first step. He shoots the ball pretty well, and he can get in the lane and finish.”

For the moment, Self sees Vick as something like an unpolished gem, a raw talent who will get an opportunity to begin his development at the World University Games in South Korea. Self has said that he’ll attempt to balance minutes during the trip, saying that players such as Vick need to play just as much as Kansas’ regulars.

Vick, of course, will also benefit from the absence of sophomore Svi Mykhailiuk, who is not eligible to play for the United States, and junior Brannen Greene, who will miss the tournament while recovering from hip surgery. In the fall, Vick could perhaps find himself struggling for minutes in a crowded backcourt. But in the long term, Self sees a player who projects as a starter and major contributor — at some point during his career.

“Lagerald is a terrific athlete that is going to become a terrific basketball player,” Self says.

Vick, meanwhile, says he’s just happy to be at Kansas. In late April, he says, he wasn’t sure where he’d be this summer. On Wednesday, he stood outside KU’s practice gym, still sweating from his first public scrimmage.

“It’s like no other chance,” Vick said of Kansas. “You only get one shot, so I took it.”

This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 3:57 PM with the headline "Kansas freshman Lagerald Vick finds his footing during first summer on campus."