Kansas basketball landed its first five-star prospect of the 2020 recruiting class this morning. Combo guard Bryce Thompson will be joining Bill Self and the Jayhawks next season.
This morning, Kansas basketball landed five-star recruit Bryce Thompson, a six-foot-five-inch senior out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thompson picked between Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and North Carolina.
Landing Thompson is huge for Kansas basketball for more than just the achievement of landing a five-star prospect though.
First, it shows that the Jayhawks can still recruit despite the threat of sanctions by the NCAA. The fact that head coach Bill Self pulled this off at all is pretty remarkable.
Bill Self may have had the inside track to Thompson though.
Back in the late ’90s when Self was a younger coach, he was leading the Tulsa Golden Hurricane basketball team. On that squad was Rod Thompson, father of Bryce Thompson, so Self certainly had the advantage of a family connection.
Thompson’s choice to join Kansas may also lead to more high-profile commitments down the line. The Jayhawks now have three recruits in their 2020 class, three-star JUCO transfer Tyon Grant-Foster, four-star Gethro Muscadin, and now five-star Bryce Thompson.
If Kansas basketball could land one more four-star prospect in the 2020 class, it’d be a really solid group of guys to bring in next season.
It goes without saying, but this is huge for the Kansas basketball program.
Thompson has a great skill set that can really benefit the Jayhawks. He has tremendous vision, and the ability create and knock down shots from anywhere on the floor. Some scouting services like 247 Sports even predict Thompson to be a future first-rounder in the NBA Draft.
Bill Self and Kansas basketball are doing a fantastic job of weathering the storm. The NCAA allegations certainly hurt the Jayhawks, but landing Thompson shows just how great this program is. Without a doubt, Bryce Thompson is going to impact Kansas basketball, and he’ll hopefully take over the program as a great player and fan-favorite.