Kansas basketball: Raef LaFrentz one of the most underrated Jayhawks

Kansas basketball has had its fair share of legends over the past 100 years, and Raef LaFrentz has certainly earned his place among them.

Kansas basketball was a juggernaut in the ’90s and early ’00s thanks to head coach Roy Williams and his tremendous rosters that included players like Paul Pierce, Drew Gooden, Kirk Hinrich, and Nick Collison. One of the all-time great Jayhawks that’s often forgotten or at least not appropriately respected though is Raef LaFrentz.

An Iowa native, LaFrentz played at Kansas from 1994 to 1998. He has an incredible list of accomplishments and accolades that include:

• 4-time Big Eight and Big 12 champion
• 1997 Consensus first-team All-American
• 1998 Consensus first-team All-American
• 1997 Big 12 Player of the Year
• 1998 Big 12 Player of the Year
• 3-time first-team all-conference
• No. 3 in all-time scoring at Kansas
• One of three players with over 2,000 points at Kansas (2,066)
• Jersey retired

LaFrentz is still the most recent Jayhawk to be a two-time consensus first-team All-American and only the fourth Kansas player to accomplish the feat since 1950. LaFrentz is also one of only two players to win the Big 12 Player of the Year award more than once along with Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield.

Over the duration of his four-year career at Kansas, LaFrentz averaged 15.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. It was his senior season though that was really remarkable. In his final year, LaFrentz was good for 19.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game during the 1997-98 season. Despite his great year, Antawn Jamison was a consensus pick for the 1998 National Player of the year.

After his career at Kansas was over, LaFrentz was taken in the NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets with the third overall pick. He had a healthy NBA career, playing from 1998 through 2009 with the Nuggets, Mavericks, Celtics, and Trail Blazers.

Raef LaFrentz deserves to be in the conversation for one of the best big men in Kansas basketball history. He had an incredible career with the Jayhawks, and he’s easily one of the greatest of all-time at KU.