Kansas basketball: Celebrating big news on big man
By Stan Unruh
A pair of 5-star prospects had fun making their college decisions known over the weekend. It included good news for Kansas basketball.
Late Friday afternoon, a 5-star point guard announced he intended to play for someplace other than Kansas basketball. I don’t usually pay attention to these dramatic presentations. On the other hand, I had a few moments and did tune in on social media to watch Immanuel Quickley’s announcement. The drama scheduled for 5:30p.m. CDT ended before I arrived. I ran the online video back to see what I missed.
As a matter of fact, I didn’t miss much. The view, I assume from a camera phone, was focused on a stage of several people seated including the 6-foot 3-inch prospect and his parents. Quickley stood, fumbled around the stage, unbuttoned his shirt and revealed his decision. He chose a school in the Southeastern Conference. I don’t believe Quicklely’s decision surprised coach Bill Self or John Calipari.
Jayhawks enjoyed Sunday’s announcement much more
For many reasons, Sunday’s 5-star player announcement by David McCormack came off much better. A Virginia television station let him reveal the good news to the world live on their evening sports report. I didn’t see it live but watched the replay. This 6-foot 9-inch beast looked confident in front of the camera on live television. There were several school ball caps on the desk in front of him. He apparently didn’t have a Kansas hat. It didn’t matter. When McCormack unbuttoned his shirt he had a Jayhawk t-shirt on.
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Depending on who you believe, scouting reports indicate McCormack is the #3 or 4 big man in the class of 2018. Just imagine what Bill Self and the Kansas basketball coaching staff can do with him and 6-foot 9-inch Silvio DeSousa who announced last month his decision to play for Kansas basketball. There is a lot to celebrate with Late Night in the Phog scheduled for Saturday. The Jayhawk basketball team is primed for a great 2017 season and Self, as expected is building a dynamic lineup for 2018.