Kansas basketball recruiting target Bryson Tucker deciding between Jayhawks, MSU, and professional route

5-star recruit Bryson Tucker was once considered a leading target for Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self. There was speculation that he could reclass to 2023 and join the Jayhawks in the middle of the season. Since those talks have died down, not much has surfaced about the No. 1 player in Virginia in the upcoming graduating year.

A recent article by Joe Tipton of On3.com shed some light on Tucker's recruiting process. He is believed to be weighing three options — attending Kansas, Michigan State, or skipping college altogether to join the NBA G League Ignite.

Tucker, the 19th-best player in the 247 Sports Composite and the 12th-best player in 2024 according to On3, visited Kansas in November and is viewed highly by the Jayhawk coaching staff. Here is the scouting report Jamie Shaw gave him last year:

"Simply put, Bryson Tucker is a basketball player. He has great size to go with a natural basketball IQ. Nothing in his game seems to ever be rushed; he plays at his own pace. He understands change of pace, and he makes good decisions with the ball. He is good on the ball in the half-court, makes solid decisions, and doesn’t put the ball in trouble off the bounce."

"Tucker has good length, and he is a good athlete," Shaw continues. "He can make shots with a confident pull-up. Tucker’s dad, Byron, is 6-10 and scored over 1,000 points at NC State/George Mason. You would like to see Bryson’s jump shot to become more consistent. He is really good in the mid-range, one to two dribble pull ups from the elbows. An explosive athlete, he is good in transition. He has a great work ethic and is one to continue watching as a five-star.”

Right now, going the pro route seems likely for the Bishop O'Connell student — he certainly has the skill set and potential to make it to the league one day. But if Tucker does wind up spending a year or two at the collegiate level, it is all but guaranteed that Kansas basketball will be among his two choices.