Four of nation’s top 41 recruits expected to sign with Kansas Jayhawks basketball
Four of the top 41 high school boys basketball players in the recruiting Class of 2022 are expected to sign national letters-of-intent with the Kansas Jayhawks during the week-long early signing period to start Wednesday and last until Nov. 17.
Prospects Gradey Dick, Zuby Ejiofor, MJ Rice and Ernest Udeh Jr., who have orally committed to KU, currently combine to form the No. 3 recruiting class in the country according to Rivals.com and No. 4 class by 247sports.com.
Kentucky (four players including top-ranked Shaedon Sharpe) and Duke (four players including No. 3 Dereck Lively, No. 5 Kyle Filipowski and No, 8 Dariq Whitehead) rank Nos. 1 and 2 nationally according to Rivals.com. 247sports.com also has Kentucky and Duke Nos. 1 and 2, followed by Arkansas (five players including No. 9 Nick Smith) and Kansas.
Here’s a look at the four players expected to sign with KU starting Wednesday. KU coach Bill Self will confirm the signings only after letters-of-intent are received and processed by KU’s compliance office.
Marquise “MJ” Rice
6-foot-5, 200-pound senior small forward from Prolific Prep in Napa, California
Rice, a native of Durham, North Carolina who committed to KU on Aug. 10, is ranked No. 20 in the country in the recruiting Class of 2022 by ESPN.com, No. 23 by Rivals.com and No. 25 by 247sports.com.
He chose KU over Oklahoma State, Pitt, North Carolina State, Duke, Louisville, Mississippi, Virginia Tech and others. He also had considered playing in the NBA G League.
Rice started his high school career at Durham (North Carolina) Academy, then moved to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia in 2020-21 before heading to Prolific Prep for his senior season.
Rice averaged 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists a game his junior year at Oak Hill Academy. In June, he announced plans to play at Prolific Prep during the 2021-22 season.
Gradey Dick
6-7, 195-pound senior forward from Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas
Dick, who played two seasons at Wichita Collegiate before switching to national power Sunrise Christian, is ranked No. 25 in the Class of 2022 by ESPN.com, No. 35 by 247sports.com and No. 37 by Rivals.com.
He committed to KU on March 3 over Baylor, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Alabama, Florida, Texas Tech, Purdue and others.
Dick this past summer teamed with Filipowski, future Baylor player Keyonte George and IMG Academy’s Eric Dailey Jr. in leading Team USA to a gold medal at the Under 18 3-on-3 World Cup in Hungary.
As a sophomore in 2019-20, Dick averaged 20.4 points., 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists a game in leading Wichita Collegiate to a 21-3 record and the Kansas 3A state tournament, which was canceled because of COVID-19. As a junior he helped lead Sunrise Christian to a second-place finish at Geico Nationals. He told The Star he would sign his letter with KU on Wednesday.
Ernest Udeh Jr.
6-10, 230-pound senior center from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida
Udeh, he No. 27-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2022 by 247sports.com, No. 29 by Rivals.com and No. 38 by ESPN.com, committed to KU on Oct. 20 over runner-up UCLA.
He also seriously considered Baylor, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Miami, Michigan and Florida as well as the Overtime Elite pro hoops league.
Udeh averaged 10.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game his junior season at Dr. Phillips High. He has a wingspan of 7-foot-2.
Zuby Ejiofor
6-8, 215-pound senior forward from Garland (Texas) High School
Ejiofor, who is ranked No, 41 nationally by 247sports.com, No. 47 by Rivals.com and No. 77 by ESPN.com, orally committed to KU on July 1. He chose the Jayhawks over Texas, TCU, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Ejiofor averaged 21.0 points and 13.0 rebounds a game his junior year at Garland High School. He scored 36 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Houston Hoops in an AAU basketball game against 3D Empire this past summer.
Ejiofor was born in the United States, but moved to Nigeria with his parents when he was very young. He moved back to the U.S. in sixth grade and started playing basketball for the first time in eighth grade.
His dad currently lives in Nigeria and his mom travels back and forth between the U.S. and Nigeria.
Self and assistant coaches Jeremy Case, Norm Roberts and Kurtis Townsend have landed commitments from Udeh, Dick, Ejiofor and Rice one year after KU signed a high school class ranked No. 16 in the country by Rivals.com (Zach Clemence, KJ Adams, Kyle Cuffe Jr., Bobby Pettiford) and No. 11 by 247sports.com.
At No. 3 overall, KU’s recruiting Class of 2022 currently is the Jayhawks’ best class since 2018. The group of Quentin Grimes, Devon Dotson, David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji was also ranked No. 3 by Rivals.com. Grimes, who transferred to Houston after one year, was ranked No. 8 overall in the class. Dotson was No,. 20, McCormack No. 35 and Agbaji No. 145.
The Jayhawks figure to have at least two available scholarships left to award in the Class of 2022. KU, which has 14 players on scholarship (the NCAA limit returns to 13 next season), will lose “super” seniors Mitch Lightfoot, Remy Martin, Jalen Coleman-Lands and Cam Martin. They also figure to lose to the pros seniors McCormack and Agbaji, who are eligible to return for an extra season. Sophomore Jalen Wilson and junior Christian Braun could be early entrants in the 2022 NBA Draft.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 8:21 AM with the headline "Four of nation’s top 41 recruits expected to sign with Kansas Jayhawks basketball."
