Kansas Basketball: Class of 2021 recruiting update (July)

Everything you need to know about Kansas basketball’s 2021 recruiting class, including top targets and how likely they are to commit to the Jayhawks (July edition).

The Kansas basketball staff has been motivated and hungry throughout the pandemic that has been lingering around the world for the last few months. All four of the major coaches have been hitting the recruiting trail hard.

COMMITTED

Zach Clemence

Kansas basketball received their first commitment of 2021 class when in-state forward, Zach Clemence, rewarded Kansas’s coaching staff with a verbal pledge. According to 247sports, Clemence is ranked No. 30 overall and the sixth-best power forward.

Clemence’s commitment came as a surprise to many Kansas fans and recruiting analysts as it seemed to come out of nowhere. The Kansas staff could be thinking they have a better chance with Zach’s teammate that will be mentioned later on.

Realistic Prospects

Hunter Sallis

Kansas has been recruiting hard in the state of Kansas recently, but when they do leave the sunflower state they don’t seem to wander too far. Hunter Sallis is listed as a five-star combo guard according to 247sports. Sallis has been dominating the cornhusker state since arriving in the high school ranks. Sallis and 2020 combo guard Donovan Williams have had many nail biters while fighting over the Nebraska Player of the Year award.

Hunter Sallis is receiving heavy interest from teams such as Gonzaga, Lousiville, UCLA, Nebraska, along with Kansas. The favorites seem to be Kansas, Gonzaga, and UCLA.

Prediction – Kansas or Gonzaga

Confidence – 65% / 35%

Kendall Brown

Possibly the number one prospect of the 2021 class for the Jayhawks is five-star Kendall Brown. Brown is rated as the No. 14 player in the nation and the No. 1 player in the state of Kansas. Brown is a very athletic forward that thrives in fastbreak situations. He won’t be the best three-point shooter on the court, but the focus he provides on the defensive end and effort running up and down the court during transition offense will result in Allen Fieldhouse going insane while he catches the ball above the rim and throws it down.

Brown is being pursued heavily by Ohio State, Marquette, Baylor, Virginia, Arkansas, and Kansas according to 247sports. Although Kansas seems to be the heavy favorite, Baylor, Ohio State, and Marquette seem to be at the top of his list.

Prediction – Kansas or Ohio State

Confidence – 85% / 15%

Tamar Bates

Another home-state product is four-star Tamar Bates who is rated as the No. 111 player in the nation and 11th best player in the state of Kansas. I’m confident that Bates is extremely underrated and will work his way into the top-100  by the end of the upcoming high school basketball season. Bates has recently decided to transfer to IMG Academy from KC Piper for his senior year and will be battling the best high school players around the nation this upcoming winter.

Three weeks ago, Eric Bossi of Rivals released an article covering one player some of the top schools in the nation must sign. The player he deemed as a “must get” for Kansas basketball was Tamar Bates who is ranked 84th in the nation on Rivals. Bossi went on to cover how Bates has traits that are similar to current Kansas guard Marcus Garrett and how Coach Self has had tremendous success developing underrated guards.

Bates is receiving heavy interest from Kansas, Creighton, and Oregon. Schools such as Kansas State, Iowa State, Alabama, Colorado, Missouri, and Oklahoma have also offered and shown interest.

Prediction – Kansas, Creighton or Oregon

Confidence – 33% / 33% / 33%

REALISTIC BUT UNLIKELY 

Nolan Hickman

To touch on one of the out of state prospects, let’s take a look at four-star Nolan Hickman from Sammamish, Washington. Hickman, whose high school is about thirty minutes away from Seattle. has been receiving most of his interest from schools such as Oklahoma, Kansas, Arizona, Oregon State, Washington, and UCLA.

Hickman seems to be eyed by many of these programs but doesn’t seem to be the number one priority for any of them currently. Hickman’s recruitment will be most likely decided by who leaves the respected teams and who the teams bring in along with him.

Kansas hasn’t had a great history with Seattle based highschool players that go back as far back as CJ Giles, Sam Cunliffe, Micah Downs, and Anrio Adams. This has even been brought to Hickman’s attention via a twitter post where he responded with a few laughing emojis and a couple of others. It didn’t seem like Hickman was fazed by the success of Seattle area players in Lawrence at all. Only time will tell, but Nolan Hickman could use this to motivate him and to put a chip on his shoulder if he should commit to Kansas.

Prediction – Oklahoma, Arizona or Kansas

Confidence – 70% / 20% / 10%

Rahsool Diggins

The next under the radar prospect we will be looking at is Rahsool Diggins from Philadelphia. Diggins’s high school is only about thirty minutes from Villanova’s campus. Villanova, Rutgers, Kansas, Depaul, and Miami have all shown interest in Diggins up to this point. Villanova seems to be the favorite to land the talented point guard, but Depaul, Rutgers, and Kansas seem to be only a couple steps behind Nova.

Prediction – Villanova, Depaul, or Kansas

Confidence – 75% / 20% / 5%

Matthew Cleveland

Recently Matthew Cleveland released his final 5 school list including Michigan, Stanford, Kansas, NC State, and Florida State. According to 247sports, Cleveland is the No. 15 player in the nation. Florida State is seen as the heavy favorite to land the talented guard, but by the looks of it, the Kansas basketball staff will still pursue Cleveland extremely hard.

Prediction – Florida State

Confidence – 100%

JD Davison

JD Davison is one of the most explosive guards in the 2021 class. Last week Davison released his final ten schools including the Jayhawks among others such as Louisville, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Florida State, Florida, Arkansas, Memphis, and Auburn. While Kansas is still in the hunt it seems that they are on the outside looking in. Meanwhile, Alabama, Memphis, and Florida State seem to be fighting over the five-star guard for the top spot.

Prediction – Memphis or Alabama

Confidence – 60% / 40%

THE UNKNOWN

Franck Kepnang

Will he be the second version of Joel Embiid? It sure looks like Franck Kepnang has the potential to be close to a Joel Embiid/Karl Anthony-Towns type player once he has been in the NBA for a couple of years. Kepnang is originally from Cameroon, just like NBA All-star, Joel Embiid.

Kepnang’s recruitment has been relatively quiet so far. He’s rated as a four-star center and the 25th player in the nation according to 247sports and he currently holds 22 offers from power five schools but hasn’t been offered by Duke or Kentucky yet.

Jerry Meyer who is the Director of Basketball Scouting for 247sports had this to say about the talented big man.

"“Tremendous build and length. Mobile big man who plays with energy and high motor. Quite limited offensive player. Primarily just a dunker. Aggressive rebounder but modest rebounding numbers. Blocking shots is his niche. Has a NBA body but must drastically improve skill wise on offense to play at that level.”"

Franck Kepnang is extremely talented when it comes to shot-blocking, but shows room for improvement on the offensive side of the ball like Joel Embiid showed while he was at Kansas. His body size and mobility are what will have NBA scouts willing to bet on this kid during the 2021 or 2022 NBA Draft.

There is one crystal ball prediction for him to land with the Texas A&M Aggies.

Prediction – Undecided

Arthur Kaluma

Four-star prospect Arthur Kaluma recently cut his list down to eight schools including Syracuse, Oklahoma, UNLV, Arizona State, Arkansas State, USC, Texas A&M, and Kansas. Kaluma was originally from Texas, but he transferred to Dream City Chrisitan Academy in Arizona. According to 247sports, Kaluma is ranked as the 20th player in the nation and listed as a power forward.

Although the Jayhawks are listed in his final cut list it will be interesting to see where the positionless four-star commits to. Arizona State and Texas A&M seem to be the favorites right now, but only time will tell. It is of note that Bill Self has made a Hall of Fame career out of recruiting players that can play multiple positions.

Prediction – Arizona State

Confidence – 50%

Micawber Etienne

The four-star big man has had a relatively active recruitment thus far. Micawber Etienne has been offered by a total of 11 power five schools and comes in as the 50th ranked player according to 247sports. Etienne has officially visited Marquette and Illinois but also has unofficially visited St. Johns, UConn, Seton Hall, Rutgers, and Syracuse.

Schools that seem to have a good spot in Etienne’s mind would be Illinois, Uconn, and Syracuse.

Etienne had this to tell Eric Bossi of Rivals about self-evaluating.

"“I feel like it’s my motor and my energy. That’s my biggest strengths I bring. When I’m on the court, whoever is guarding me, I’m going to try and put fear in their heart. I’m going to try and make it seem like they can’t score in the paint and I’m always going to be up in their face and bringing a lot of energy. I also bring the energy to my teammates.”"

Etienne seems like a great fit for Syracuse and Coach Jim Boeheim’s defensive gameplan and being from the northeast wouldn’t be such a long move for the big man.

Kansas was late to offer the energized big man but will look to still be a key factor in his recruitment for the next couple of months to come. Etienne’s motor and energy would have Coach Self and Kansas basketball fans rocking during loose balls and fast breaks in Allen Fieldhouse.

Prediction – Syracuse or Uconn

Confidence – 55% / 45%

To Sum It Up

The Kansas basketball coaching staff looks like they will be bringing in another top-10 class, and possibly even a top-5 recruiting class this year. It will depend on a majority of factors though, including:

• Who is currently on the roster letting Coach Self know they plan to turn Pro next year
• NCAA Penalties
• Transfers out of Kansas
• # scholarships available

There shouldn’t be any doubt that Coach Self and staff will bring Kansas basketball fans at least two more recruits that were listed above to Lawrence, Kansas next fall along with current verbal commit Zach Clemence.