Kansas basketball adds walk-on forward Justin Cross to 2023-24 roster

Kansas basketball is bringing in Justin Cross, a 6-foot-9 walk-on forward who just won a championship with a JUCO team.

The Kansas Jayhawks made another offseason acquisition, though it might not be as significant as others. Justin Cross will join next year’s roster as a walk-on per head coach Bill Self.

Standing 6-foot-9, 215 pounds, Cross offers considerable size for a nonscholarship player. He spent the past two seasons at John A. Logan College, a JUCO in Carterville, Illinois. As a sophomore, he averaged 2.8 points and 4.4 rebounds across 35 contests.

Cross joins Wilder Evers, Michael Jankovich, Charlie McCarthy, and Dillon Wilhite as KU’s walk-ons. One or two more players are expected to join the team as walk-ons at one point this offseason.

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Cross certainly does not fit the mold of your average walk-on. He could see minutes with the second unit regularly at the beginning of the season, especially with the lack of big-man depth that the Jayhawks have. In fact, Cross will be the third tallest player on the roster, trailing the 7-foot-1 Hunter Dickinson and 6-foot-10 Parker Braun.

Although the move will likely not equate to much, Kansas basketball fans can hold out hope that Cross will somewhat contribute to the team in 2023-24. He could see time at the end of games or against lesser opponents.

Because he just received his associates degree at a community college, Cross will have two years of eligibility remaining — he enters the season as a junior. It will be interesting to see if he can carve out a role for himself once the regular season commences.

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