Kansas Jayhawks extend basketball offers to juniors Langston Love, Micawber Etienne
Langston Love, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound junior combo guard from Montverde (Florida) Academy, has been offered a basketball scholarship by Kansas, he reported on Twitter this week.
Love, who is ranked No. 39 in the recruiting Class of 2021 by Rivals.com, is considering KU, Baylor, Texas, Stanford, Viillanova, Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Oklahoma State, Houston, Arkansas, Texas A&M, UCLA, Texas Tech and others, according to Rivals.com.
Love, who is from the San Antonio, Texas area, transferred to Montverde from Steele High School in Cibolo, Texas last July. He plays summer basketball for the Houston Hoops AAU program.
Montverde coach Kevin Boyle told the Memphis Commercial-Appeal that Love “is a really tough defender. Hard-nosed kid, he competes every day. He’s super consistent. He’s kind of a combo guard. He can make the three but he’s more comfortable at the midrange. He’s a really good one-on-one isolation defender and off the ball defender.”
Love recently was ranked the No. 2 player in the state of Florida in the Class of 2021 by prephoops.com. Moussa Diabate, 6-10 center, from IMG Academy, is the top prospect in the state.
“Langston Love is a strong guard who doesn’t back down from anyone. He is going to battle his senior year and be a problem at the next level as he continues to further his game,” writes prephoops.com.
Montverde Academy finished the 2019-20 season 25-0 and was ranked the No. 1 team in the country out of all high school teams, according to ballislife.com.
KU extends offer to Etienne
Micawber Etienne, a 6-10, 220-pound junior center from Suffield Academy in Connecticut, has been offered a scholarship by KU, he reported Thursday on Twitter.
Etienne, who is ranked No. 59 in the recruiting Class of 2021 by 247sports.com, is also being recruited by Louisville, Ohio State, UConn, Miami, Syracuse, Georgetown, Texas A&M, Illinois and others.
Etienne was recently named the winner of the 2019-20 Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year award.
KU ranked No. 9 in SI poll
Sports Illustrated has ranked coach Bill Self’s KU No. 9 in the country in its first preseason poll for the 2020-21 season.
Villanova is ranked No. 1, followed by Gonzaga, Baylor, Virginia, Creighton, Kentucky, Duke, Iowa, KU and Texas Tech.
“Kansas will have a hole at point guard if Devon Dotson turns pro, but other than that, it’s well-equipped to stay competitive, with Marcus Garrett and Ochai Agbaji anchoring the perimeter, freshman Bryce Thompson likely to contribute, and enough depth in the frontcourt with David McCormack, Silvio De Sousa, Tristan Enaruna and Christian Braun all back,” writes Jeremy Woo of SI.com. “Enaruna has breakout potential as a sophomore assuming his minutes and comfort level trend upward. This won’t be the most loaded Kansas team ever, but it should be plenty solid.”
No. 2 seed in KU’s future?
Kansas has been awarded a No. 2 seed in the South Regional of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, according to the first bracketology of the upcoming season by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
The No. 1 seeds went to Kentucky, Creighton, Villanova and Gonzaga. The No. 2’s went to KU, Baylor, Duke and Virginia.
Dotson, Doke second-rounders?
KU’s Udoka Azubuike and Devon Dotson are listed as the first and second picks in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft, according to the ESPN.com projections of Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz.
Senior center Azubuike is projected to be taken at No. 31 overall by Dallas. Dotson, a sophomore point guard who is expected to soon declare himself eligible for the 2020 draft, is predicted to be the No. 32 overall pick by Charlotte. No other KU players were included in the mock draft, which was released Thursday.
Azubuike improved his draft stock during his senior year, writes ESPN.com’s Jeff Borzello.
“I watched him a number of times in high school (at Potter’s House Christian School, Jacksonville, Florida) and on the AAU circuit, and I saw him physically dominate opponents around the rim. It was impressive, but I didn’t think it would necessarily translate to the college game,” Borzello writes.
“Azubuike was one of the best players in the country his final season at Kansas, and I just never saw that coming. He maintained that physical advantage over his opponents, and he also varied his finishing around the rim, added some touch to his faceup game and improved his conditioning and ability to avoid fouls. I’m still not totally convinced his dominance inside will translate to the NBA game, especially with the direction the pro game has been heading, but I think he’ll carve out a role at the next level.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks extend basketball offers to juniors Langston Love, Micawber Etienne."
