Elite basketball PG prospect Labaron Philon plans on visiting KU Jayhawks: recruiting
Labaron Philon, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound senior point guard from Link Academy in Branson, Missouri, is in the process of setting up an official men’s basketball recruiting visit to Kansas, JayhawkSlant.com reports.
Philon — he is ranked No. 27 in the recruiting class of 2024 by 247Sports.com, No. 35 by ESPN.com and No. 38 by Rivals.com — has a final list of Kansas, Cincinnati, Mississippi and Alabama.
He visited Cincinnati on Sept. 1-3 and will travel to Mississippi this upcoming weekend. A possible date for the KU visit is Sept. 22-24. He has yet to set a visit date to Alabama.
Philon committed to Auburn on Feb. 3, then reopened his recruitment on April 21. According to verbalcommits.com, Ole Miss assistant coach Wes Flanigan was Philon’s lead recruiter when Flanigan was on the coaching staff at Auburn. Flanigan left for Ole Miss on April 8. Shortly after the move, Philon decommitted.
Philon last year attended Baker High in Mobile, Alabama. He averaged 35.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.6 steals per game. He hit 52% of his shots, including 34% of his 3s and 82% of his free throws. He had 51 points in one game.
Philon left the state of Alabama with 2,334 career points in three seasons. He was on track to become a top 10 scorer in state history, according to maxpreps.com.
“We are very proud of Labaron and all his accomplishments,” Baker High coach David Armstrong told al.com. “We are happy with everything he has done for Baker. He is a program-changing type player, and we are excited to have been a part of his journey for the last three years. We wish him nothing but the best moving forward.
“I think moving to Link will be good for him if he puts in the work, and I know he will. Labaron will forever be a Baker Hornet. It’s been an absolute pleasure to coach the kid. I don’t know if I’ll ever coach a better player. He is absolutely special.”
He initially chose Auburn over KU, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, Houston, Cincinnati, Louisville, LSU and Penn State. After reopening his recruitment, he heard from coaches at Kentucky, Arizona, UConn and others.
“He’s a top 20 player in the country,” UMS-Wright Prep School coach Michael Napp told al.com. “He is just so dynamic with the ball. He can get any shot, any time when he wants it. He can knock down so many shots from so many different places. He’s an elite ball handler.”
Recruiting analyst Eric Bossi of 247Sports.com attended a practice of Link Academy this week.
He said Philon “was hitting gaps, pushing tempo and showing the ability to mix his inside/out scoring with setting the table for teammates.”
Bill Self travels to Montverde Academy
KU coach Bill Self on Monday traveled to Montverde (Florida) Academy to visit three seniors who are considering KU.
They are: consensus No. 1-ranked player in the class of 2024 Cooper Flagg, who will attend KU’s Oct. 6 Late Night in the Phog on an official recruiting visit, plus Liam McNeeley and Derik Queen, who visited KU two weeks ago.
Flagg, a 6-8, 195-pound senior forward from Newport, Maine, will visit KU Oct. 6-8, UConn Sept. 22-24 and Duke Oct. 20-22, Flagg also is being recruited by UCLA, Texas, Villanova, Michigan and many other programs.
Flagg — he turns 17 in December — recently announced plans to switch from the recruiting class of 2025 to 2024.
Queen, a a 6-10, 245-pound senior forward originally from Baltimore, is ranked No. 7 in the Class of 2024 by 247Sports.com, No 15 by ESPN.com and No. 21 by Rivals.com.
McNeeley, a 6-8, 210-pound senior forward originally from Richardson, Texas, is ranked No. 9 in the recruiting class of 2024 by Rivals.com and 247Sports.com and No. 13 by ESPN.com. McNeeley and Queen visited Indiana last weekend.
Also on the recruiting front: Jalil Bethea, a 6-4 senior point guard from Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, Pennsylvania, who visited KU two weeks ago, reportedly had a great visit to Miami last weekend. The Hurricanes, in fact, are believed to be heavy favorites to land Bethea following his decision to cancel upcoming visits to Syracuse and Alabama.
Bethea, who has visited Villanova, is ranked No. 7 in the class of 2024 by ESPN.com, No. 17 by Rivals.com and No. 20 by 247Sports.com.
This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Elite basketball PG prospect Labaron Philon plans on visiting KU Jayhawks: recruiting."
