KU basketball coaches spend Monday contacting prospects in recruiting Class of 2022
Kansas’ basketball coaches contacted numerous players in the recruiting class of 2022 Monday. It was the first day coaches could initiate interaction with prospects who are about to enter their junior year of high school.
Included in the list of juniors-to-be who received calls or texts from KU representatives Bill Self, Kurtis Townsend, Norm Roberts and/or Jerrance Howard were local players Gradey Dick and Mark Mitchell, who both play for KC Run GMC’s AAU program as well as Aidan Shaw, who plays for Mokan Basketball.
Dick, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, will move from Wichita Collegiate High School to Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, for his junior season.
The 2020 Gatorade state player of the year, who averaged 20.4 points and 5.0 rebounds a game his soph season at (21-3) Collegiate, is ranked No 32 in the recruiting class of 2022 by Rivals.com.
Dick — he was offered a scholarship by KU on June 23, 2019 — heard from coaches from 23 colleges on Monday.
Dick told The Star that a text message from KU’s coaching staff arrived promptly at 12:01 a.m. Monday. The other schools that made contact during the day: Kansas State and Wichita State, plus Alabama, Baylor, BYU, Florida, Illinois, Iowa State, Marquette, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Virginia, Wisconsin and Xavier.
Mitchell, a 6-7 small forward from Bishop Miege, is ranked No. 13 in the class of ’22 by Rivals.com. Mitchell, who received a KU scholarship offer on July 20, 2019, also has Missouri, Kansas State, UCLA, Oklahoma State. Arkansas, North Carolina, Duke, Michigan, Texas, Wake Forest on his list. He averaged 21.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals for Miege (19-4) last season.
Shaw, a 6-7 small forward from Blue Valley High School, is ranked No. 68 in the recruiting Class of 2022 by Rivals.com. On Monday he heard from coaches from Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma State and USC who have offered scholarships, plus coaches from KU, Kansas State, Illinois, Iowa State, Purdue, Arkansas, BYU, Creighton, California and Stanford.
KU reached out to a fourth local player from the class of 2022 on Monday. The Jayhawks in fact Monday offered a scholarship to unranked Juju Ramirez, a 6-7 forward from Lawrence’s Seabury Academy, who is headed to New Hampton Prep in New Hampshire for his junior and senior seasons of high school ball.
Ramirez, who plays for Mokan Basketball, told The Star he has heard from coaches from KU, Wichita State, Utah State, Colorado State, Bradley, Minnesota, Brown and Bryant at this early date.
The area also has produced some current KU recruiting prospects who are entering their senior years of high school, including Tamar Bates, a 6-4 senior-to-be from KC Piper High School who is off to play for IMG Academy in Florida his senior year and Kendall Brown, 6-7 from Sunrise Christian Academy. Bates is ranked No. 85 and Brown No. 12 in the Class of 2021.
KU already has received a commitment from Zach Clemence, a 6-10 senior-to-be out of Sunrise Christian Academy who is ranked No. 29 in the class of 2021 by Rivals.com.
The Jayhawks are also recruiting senior-to-be Hunter Sallis, a 6-4 guard from Millard North High in Omaha, Nebraska. He is ranked No. 11 in the class of 2021.
Back to theclass of 2022 …. Here are some more players KU coaches contacted Monday. The list was compiled by Jayhawkslant.com: No. 6-ranked (by Rivals.com) Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, 6-9 forward IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida; No. 8 Jaden Bradley, 6-3 point guard, formerly Cannon School, Charlotte, North Carolina who is headed to IMG Academy in Florida; No. 9 Keyonte George, 6-5 point guard, Lewisville (Texas) High; No. 10 Kijani Wright, 6-8 forward, Windward High, Los Angeles; No. 16 Lee Dort, 6-10 center, North Dallas Adventist Academy, Richardson, Texas; No. 17 Skyy Clark, 6-1 point guard, Brentwood Academy, Nashville; No. 18 Arterio Morris, 6-4 shooting guard, Kimball High, Dallas; No. 21 A.J. Casey, 6-8 power forward, Tinley Park High, Chicago; No. 29 Rylan Griffen, 6-5 shooting guard, Richardson (Texas) High; No. 46 Nick Smith, 6-4 Sylvan Hills High, Sherwood, Arkansas; No. 58 Colin Smith, 6-7 forward, St. Mark’s High, Dallas; No. 90 Joseph Pinion, 6-6, forward, Morrilton (Arkansas) High and No. 141 Noah Shelby, 6-2 point guard, Greenhill School, Addison, Texas.
KU, according to Zagsblog.com, on Monday started recruiting Silas Sunday, a 6-10, 280-pound junior-to-be forward from Our Savior Lutheran School in Bronx, New York. Sunday, an unranked player in the class of 2022, is being recruited by Kansas State, Nebraska, St. John’s, Pitt and others.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 9:58 AM with the headline "KU basketball coaches spend Monday contacting prospects in recruiting Class of 2022."
