Kansas basketball: Missing on Brown hurts but it’s not the end of the world

Kansas basketball missed out on five-star Kendall Brown yesterday, but the Jayhawks still have a lot of things going for them.

Yesterday, five-star recruit Kendall Brown committed to the Baylor Bears after visiting the Jayhawks multiple times. The fact that Brown is from Kansas makes this hurt even more, but it’s far from the end of the world for Kansas basketball.

For starters, four-star guard Matthew Cleveland will be committing today, and Kansas is one of his top choices. Granted, Cleveland seems to be leaning toward Florida State; however, you can’t count out the Jayhawks yet. Cleveland is set to announce today at 2:00 PM central time.

Kansas could very well miss on Cleveland too, but the Jayhawks do have a solid class of freshmen coming in for the 2020-21 season. Namely, five-star guard Bryce Thompson and four-star guard Tyon Grant-Foster. Gethro Muscadin and Latrell Jossell are both two guys to keep an eye on as well, considering both could develop into great players at Kansas.

Of course, Kansas already has four-star recruit, Zach Clemence, in the 2021 class. Clemence is a top 30 player in the country, and he should make an impact for Kansas once he arrives in Lawrence.

Missing on Brown does hurt Kansas’ 2021 class, but there are still a lot of recruits that the Jayhawks have a good chance of landing. Five-star Hunter Sallis comes to mind, but the Jayhawks will have some competition to land him. So far, Sallis has fielded offers from North Carolina, Oregon, Gonzaga, Louisville, and many other top programs.

Tamar Bates, a Kansas native, is also a top prospect that the Jayhawks could land. Once again, he’s received offers from half of the Big 12, as well as some other big schools, so Kansas will be facing stiff competition to land the talented guard.

Finally, four-star point guard Nolan Hickman seems to be leaning toward committing to the Jayhawks. Multiple experts on Rivals have predicted that Hickman will choose Kansas, and he also has a Crystal Ball prediction in favor of the Jayhawks.

So yes, losing Kendall Brown hurts. He’s a five-star recruit from Kansas that seemed to lean toward the Jayhawks throughout his recruitment, but there are a lot of 2021 prospects still out there that Kansas can land.