Recruiting stakes increase for Kansas as Achiuwa commits to Memphis

With Precious Achiuwa verbally committing to play for the Memphis Tigers next season, the stakes have raised increasingly on the recruiting trail for Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks.

The No. 17 rated player in the Rivals 2019 player rankings said no to the storied tradition and passionate fanbase that Kansas basketball has to offer. Instead, Precious Achiuwa will be joining fellow top player James Wiseman to highlight the current No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the country, the Memphis Tigers.

While Achiuwa’s name can now be crossed off the list of potential 2019 Kansas signees, the Jayhawks are still in a great place to land not only the No. 47 ranked player and former Michigan signee Jalen Wilson, but the No. 6 ranked RJ Hampton as well.

. . . Or so we all thought.

While Memphis appeared to be trending down in the recruitment of Hampton, this tweet from Corey Evans, a national basketball writer for Rivals, indicates that Memphis may very well be the favorite after all.

Per his Twitter account, RJ Hampton posted this in response to Evans’ report:

https://twitter.com/RjHampton14/status/1129582738237992961

While RJ Hampton has numerous Jayhawk related posts on his social media pages as well, his response further confirms that a commitment to Memphis is possible.

To make matters worse for Kansas, there is also a possibility that both Devon Dotson and Quentin Grimes will choose to keep their names in the NBA Draft pool.

This would be an utter nightmare scenario for next year’s Kansas Basketball team.

The current 2019-20 Kansas Basketball roster looks as follows:

Returners: Marcus Garrett, Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack, Udoka Azubuike, Mitch Lightfoot, Chris Teahan (Walk-on), Garrett Luinstra (Walk-on) and Elijah Elliot (Walk-on).

Incoming Recruits: Tristan Enaruna, Christian Braun and Issac McBride.

This current roster does include some very talented players, but it lacks a true point guard and consistent outside shooters.

This is why the stakes are now so high when it comes to the recruitment of Hampton and Wilson.Their skill-sets are exactly what the doctor ordered in terms of what next year’s roster is missing:

Hampton is a rim-finishing point guard that has All-American and lottery pick potential. And Jalen Wilson is a big perimeter player who is a very good shooter and scorer.

If the Jayhawks expect to make the most out of all-conference center Udoka Azubuike’s return, it is crucial to sign at least one of these two recruits at the very least.

And if they don’t, Kansas will have yet another one-dimensional offense that relies on major numbers from their star big man night in and night out.

That’s not saying guards such as Ochai Agbaji or Marcus Garrett won’t have breakout seasons offensively – they are certainly capable of doing that.

But considering Agbaji and Garrett combined to average only 15.8 points per game last season, adding quality backcourt depth is imperative to take a lot of the scoring pressure off of those two.

And as far as Kansas’ three incoming signees go, they were recruited with the expectation to make a solid impact next year, not to be the go-to stars.

If this nightmare scenario becomes reality, these freshmen will be forced to grow up in a hurry.

Matthew Hurt and Cassius Stanley committing elsewhere was unfortunate for Kansas, but understandable. But after Achiuwa’s commitment to Memphis, the opportunity to land Hampton and Wilson is one that Bill Self can’t afford to miss.

With that being said, the stakes may be high, but there is plenty of room for optimism.

Bill Self is arguably the best in the business when it comes to late Spring recruiting. And given the current crop of players already on Memphis’ roster, playing for the Jayhawks next season would probably be in Hampton’s best interest.

In addition, there is always the 50/50 chance of either Grimes or Dotson — or even both of them for that matter — deciding to return to school for their sophomore seasons.

If the approaching decisions from these players fall in favor of the Jayhawks, Bill Self’s team will have 2020 National Title potential.

But if the Jayhawks aren’t so lucky, championship aspirations will quickly diminish.

Buckle up folks, this is going to be interesting.