Kansas basketball: How the recruiting ban could affect the Jayhawks

Due to concerns over COVID-19, the NCAA and Big 12 have put a ban on recruiting, which will affect Kansas basketball in some ways.

Kansas basketball has been robbed of their chance to make a run in March Madness this season, but for good reason. Among other COVID-19 cancellations and bans, both the NCAA and Big 12 have put a ban on in-person recruiting visits through April 15.

To clarify, coaches can still communicate via phone; the ban is strictly for in-person recruiting.

For Kansas basketball, this shouldn’t be a huge blow. Bill Self got out early this year and made some big moves. According to Rivals, the Jayhawks have the No. 12 recruiting class in the country. The class features three-star Latrell Jossell, four-stars Gethro Muscadin and Tyon Grant-Foster, as well as five-star Bryce Thompson.

Thompson was going to compete in the McDonald’s All-American game; however, the game has since been canceled due to COVID-19.

READ MORE: BREAKING DOWN BILL SELF’S 2020 RECRUITING CLASS

All four of those prospects are signed, but Kansas is still interested in one more player for their 2020 class: Donovan Williams. While Kansas still hasn’t offered him, Williams has already unofficially visited Kansas twice, so there’s interest there.

Even if the Jayhawks don’t end up signing Williams, they aren’t in a bad place right now. They have a top-15 class in the country including a five-star prospect, plus three other strong signees that can grow into great college players.

As of now, the biggest concern for Kansas is that it may affect their ability to shop for grad transfers.

Harvard transfer Seth Towns was reportedly interested in Kansas as well as other teams to finish out his college career. Towns is a great shooter from behind the arc, so he could really help next year’s team if he becomes a Jayhawk.

Overall, this recruiting ban probably won’t hurt Kansas basketball as much as other teams due to the fact that the Jayhawks already signed four players. It’ll be interesting to see how long the recruiting ban lasts though, and with no end in sight, it could be awhile.