We examined some of the biggest recruiting busts for Kansas basketball during Bill Self’s tenure as head coach.
Although the Kansas Jayhawks have one of the best college basketball programs in the country, they do not have the pedigree of NBA players that Duke or Kentucky has. This is partially due to Kansas having a reputation for not developing top-ranked high school commitments.
Bill Self is a Hall of Fame head coach and among the best recruiters in the country, yet even some of his players do not pan out as expected. Not everyone is built for playing under the bright lights of Allen Fieldhouse.
These are the five biggest recruiting busts during the Bill Self era.
All recruiting rankings were retrieved from 247 Sports.
5. Quentin Grimes (2018-2019, No. 10 ranked recruit in Class of 2018)
Grimes committed to Kansas with high expectations. Not only was he supposed to make an immediate impact, but some argued before the start of the 2018-19 season that he would be the best scorer on the floor for the Jayhawks that season. They could not be more wrong. He was inefficient, struggled defensively, and looked scared to be on the court.
Grimes played 27.4 minutes per contest, averaging only 8.4 points while shooting 38.4 percent from the floor. His performance as a Jayhawk was a letdown for a team that began the year as the preseason No. 1-ranked team. Grimes’ struggles were one of the primary reasons KU’s Big 12 regular season title streak was broken.
Shortly after the season, Grimes entered the transfer portal and ended up heading to the Houston Cougars for two seasons. His minutes on the floor were much better than they were as a Jayhawk, and he played so well that he led them to the Final Four in 2021. Grimes is now a guard for the New York Knicks, but that would not have been the case if he stayed at Kansas.
His basketball career has ended up successful long term, but his time at Kansas was very disappointing. We will never know how his career would have panned out if he stayed another year at Kansas. However, he made the best decision for himself and now plays at the highest level possible. He even made the Rising Stars game this year.
4. David Padgett (2003-2004, No. 5 ranked recruit in Class of 2003)
Padgett was a solid player, just like Grimes. He simply was not good enough in regard to where he was recruited. Playing behind Kansas great Wayne Simien did not help his case, as the big-bodied center averaged 19.2 minutes per game in his lone season with the Jayhawks.
After transferring from Kansas, he formed a respectable career for himself at Louisville. He made the All-Big East Second Team twice in three years. Padgett even became the interim head coach of the Cardinals in 2017.
He is not as much of a bust as other players on this list, as he would have become a terrific big man with Bill Self had he stayed. However, he wanted to make an immediate impact with Louisville, and it worked out for him in the long run. It is safe to say that Padgett did not play like the No. 5 recruit of the class with Kansas.
3. Cliff Alexander (2014-2015, No. 5 ranked recruit in Class of 2014)
Alexander graduated from Curie High School as the No. 5 recruit in the Class of 2014. His production as a Jayhawk got him nowhere after his one-and-done freshman season. By no means was he bad as a big man off the bench, but he was not up to par for a top-5 recruit.
In 28 games, he averaged 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds. For someone that had aspirations of potentially becoming the next Jayhawk great, his numbers were not even close to cutting it for Bill Self’s standards. What makes Alexander even more of a bust was the stipulations that Kansas had to go through to get him — his family received illegal benefits for him to attend.
After his freshman season, he declared for the NBA Draft and went undrafted. He was signed to a two-way deal with the Portland Trail Blazers but never received a genuine opportunity to compete for them, appearing in just eight games during his NBA tenure.
It was surprising to see him go undrafted, as one team was expected to take a flier on the once-hyped-up recruit. Alexander now plays for the Sagesse Club in the Lebanese Basketball League, and some Jayhawk fans have forgotten he even played at Kansas for a year.
2. Cheick Diallo (2015-2016, No. 7 ranked recruit in Class of 2015)
It’s hard to call Diallo a bust in the NBA, as he did not have the highest expectations coming into the league. However, a top-10 recruit who did not eclipse 100 NCAA points can definitely be considered a college bust.
Diallo played 27 games for the Jayhawks and only came in for unimportant minutes. He was overshadowed by Perry Ellis and Landen Lucas. Cheick started one game vs. Oklahoma State, struggled mightily, and after that experiment ended, he started to see DNPs and even fewer minutes.
He ended up playing one season with at Kansas, although he was still drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Clippers due to him being highly touted out of high school.Diallo has been a role player off the bench at best in the NBA, and it has been a very underwhelming career for someone who had such a bright career ahead of him. However, entering the draft was probably best for him, as scouts still thought he had the potential to bud into a good player. If he stayed at Kansas another year and did not perform well, Diallo might have never seen an NBA floor.
He has been with three teams in five years during his NBA career, but he hasn’t found a way to work himself into a consistent role yet. The most minutes he played per game during a season was 14.0 during the 2018-19 season with the New Orleans Pelicans. Diallo’s time at Kansas was immensely disappointing.
1. Josh Selby (2010-2011, No. 4 ranked recruit in Class of 2010)
The biggest recruiting bust with Kansas basketball under Bill Self is undoubtedly Josh Selby. His time at Kansas was an absolute disaster. Where do we start? The 37.3 shooting percentage, the improper benefits his family took, or him blaming KU’s program for his struggles?
Whichever aspect of Selby you want to remember him by, it is likely not a positive one. He was suspended nine games at the beginning of the 2010 season, and when he returned to the court, he played terribly.
Why couldn’t Kyrie Irving, the player ranked ahead of Selby, come to Kansas instead? Or just anybody besides him? He put Kansas in a whole lot of trouble for a guy who virtually gave the school nothing. After one season in Lawrence, he entered the NBA Draft in hopes of putting college basketball behind him.
Scouts raved about Selby in his individual workouts, and that got him drafted No. 49 overall by the Memphis Grizzlies. His tenure there was short-lived, especially after he was arrested for charges of marijuana as a rookie. As a draft prospect, he was high-risk and low-reward. Selby is, without a question, the most disappointing player that Bill Self has ever recruited.