Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - ANOTHER 5-STAR!!! JAVON BARDWELL TO KANSAS as Bill Self's Recruiting RAMPAGE Continues

Starting point is 00:00:00 Bill Self has his third commit in like five or six days. Javon Bardwell is a five star. We're going to break down his game and his commitment to KU on today's episode, a Locked on Jayhawks. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks to making it your first listen every day. And thank you to the everydayers catch in each and every episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:00:38 We are free and available anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe. And on today's edition of LOJ, a little bonus episode, we're getting to Javon Bardwell. He is the five-star recruit that is committed to the University of Kansas as part of the class of 2027. Is he going to stay in that class? so you're going to reclassify. We'll break that all down, scouting and poured on him and what it could look like for the future of KU, whether it is 2026 or 2027. Let's just start right there with the big news of the day. And that would be that Bill Self and his staff continue to be on an absolute tear. So you get Taylin Kinney, a five-star commit last Sunday. On Wednesday, you add a

Starting point is 00:01:17 four-star commit into the toe. And then now today, you add another five-star. Now, this is the class of 27 with Javon Bardwell. But again, there's at least, you know, some conversation. Could he reclassify in the end? Doesn't sound like that decision will be made until the, I guess the end of his school year, so to speak, the end of his season before next season, which makes sense. Because from the Kansas perspective, it's probably also like, hey, we want to leave that door open too, right?

Starting point is 00:01:48 Let's say we have the opportunity to bring on like a big time, I don't know, transfer addition and we need the money for that specific year or the opportunity for that specific player, then you go out and use it versus if it's like, you know what, we do have that open spot that we think, you know, you could make an impact in the rotation. Like just come on down now similar to what, you know, Cole Rosario is going to try to do this year for KU. But in the end, he chooses Kansas over Louisville, USC, and Texas. And this is another one. We've talked a lot about, and we had a previous episode, thank you that every day, if you already caught it, talked a lot about the new assistant coach hires for Bill Self with

Starting point is 00:02:23 Jacques Vaughn and Tony Bland, how they are paying dividends in the recruiting game for KU. And that seems to be the case here for Tony Bland, who had a good relationship with him and seems to have gotten this over the finish line for KU. So again, those hires by Bill Self really paying off for KU. Now, Bardwell is 24-7 sports number 13 overall player in the class of 2027. He's also the number five small forward, and he's that five-star recruit. He is originally from Harlem, New York, which, you know, Bill Self has had some good success with players from New York. You think of Tyshaun Taylor. You think of Russell Robinson and a very different player here, more of a wing, but he used to be a point guard. I'll get to his growth spurt here

Starting point is 00:03:09 in a second, but he went to Arizona for prep school and now coming for, I guess, his final year prep school or final two years, depending, you know, whether he reclassifies or not is with overtime elite, meaning this continues the KU momentum with OTE and honestly makes me feel that definitively, this is a pipeline for Kansas with all the players they're landing from overtime elite. Tailing Kinney on Sunday is from overtime elite, right? But going beyond the overtime elite pipeline and certainly that helping, this definitely seemed like one that Tony Bland was a huge piece on. And so when you combine those two things, that Kansas seems to have good relationships with OTE with Tony Bland, who seems to have a good

Starting point is 00:03:48 relationship with Javon Bardwell with the Kansas brand and Adidas, and like, that's how you get this thing done. So good teamwork there for KU. And, um, you know, it, it certainly feels like KU and Bill Self are building a recruiting giant right now. And when I have these conversations, like, it comes at a level of like, oh, so you're saying Kansas hasn't been recruiting while the, no, Kansas has been recruiting and just fine in the past. But there's a level between where Kansas has been recruiting, which has been very good to, like, the top one or two each and every year. And we've seen Kansas have one of those top or one or two classes here and there, but have they done it year over year over year, like the Dukes and the Kentucky's when John Calapari was there? And so from that perspective, that's where I'm very interested to see, like, is this something that they continue to build toward?

Starting point is 00:04:38 Is this something that they're putting as their main priority in building roster, their main focus? whatever priority it is, it seems to be working for KU. All right, let's get to the scouting port on Bardwell. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Mazda. You can just move through life or you can find the things that move you. It's your choice. You can choose get out there.

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Starting point is 00:05:21 Just like you can win every Saturday with DoorDash streaks, saving more every time you order. These players delivered when it mattered most. Let's break it down. For Kansas, we're going to go back to the game against Cincinnati. I know you lose the game, but Blake Harold actually played a really good game. Like, again, the defense did not play well for KU. But Harold had a bunch of tackles. He was one of the few guys who was able to seemingly affect Ed. at least one or two times against Brendan Sorsby. And actually, the Kansas pass rush got a decent amount of pressures, even though it didn't feel like it was always there. But what am I doing here?

Starting point is 00:05:52 Blake Harold had a really good game for KU despite the kind of bad stuff going on around him. And he's on a tear right now. That's like three straight weeks now where Blake Harold is jumping off the page at defensive tackle for KU. And just like Blake Harold is delivering right now for Kansas, DoorDash delivers your Saturdays. With DoorDash streaks, you save every Saturday you order,

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Starting point is 00:06:41 clearly somebody who you're going to be looking to add weight to the idea that he's going to be playing with overtime elite probably will be better at adding weight to his frame than if you were playing at the high school level so that's probably a good thing there but here's what I find really insane so he he was like a six three depending where he saw six four a guard at some sites now he's like a six six seven wing and apparently he had a this is some story that was online get a five-inch growth spurt in the summer of 2024. And so that gets him from being a former point guard into being more of a wing. Now, first of all, I just like that in general because a lot of times the players where that happens,

Starting point is 00:07:22 like you, you were developing guard skills and then you end up being a bigger position. So you like you're just a very skilled player at your position where there always isn't that much skill. So that's a good thing for Bardwell too. But it also like, does it, does it hint at the idea. that maybe he's not done growing yet. I'm not saying he's going to have another five inch, you know, growth spurn and be a center.

Starting point is 00:07:42 No, what I'm saying is does he have another inch or two on the bone, right? Because what if he ends up six, seven? What if he ends up six eight, right? And I mean, six is already, you know, good enough size on the wing in the college game. But like, I don't know, that at least is in the back of my mind. Now, so from watching highlights, which there weren't a lot readily available to be clear on this, but you can definitely see a smooth athlete. And from that perspective, I can see why he's ranked very highly, very smooth.

Starting point is 00:08:08 from an athletic perspective for Bardwell, and he's one of the, you know, there's like different types of jumpers. I don't know, this is very unscientific, but like there's like power jumpers. Like I think of like a Zion Williamson or I don't know, a Sean Kemp or a Blake Griffin. And maybe that just comes with being a bigger guy, but like where it's like a thunderous power sort of thing. Then there are guys who are just like pure like springy athletes where it's like, you're a pogo stick. And then there's the guys who can jump up and are like, just so smoothed and look like they're floating on air and it's just like it looks so natural and you're making it look easy he's one of those guys that feels like he floats when he jumps

Starting point is 00:08:49 that he just kind of hangs in there and it doesn't always like I think automatically when you think of jumping you think of okay going for a block going for a rebound going for a dunk but we don't always think about it from a perspective of like when you're driving into the lane and when you jump up to take the layup are you able to float high in the air and float longer than your opponent where it allows you to get that extra little 10th second where you can get that opening for the layup. That is what I see from Jovan Bardwell, very good, kind of just floating in the air, and it allows him to finish at the rim really well. And I think something else that allows him to finish at the rim, I noticed a lot on the highlights. So it looked like he was

Starting point is 00:09:26 righty from the shot, but from the layup package, a lot of left-handed finishes, a lot of dexterity in the layups. So I think going to be very good at doing that. You see some of the length, you see some of the quickness you see some of the stepbacks um again good dexterity kind of finishing and when you combine all those things together he definitely seems like somebody who is a good athlete that's going to be able to create his own shot and that makes sense when you package that together in a six six wing why he's going to be a five star recruit so definitely exciting there now we do have some stats um he played this past season for overtime elite and uh between the regular and the post season 17.6 points per game 5.6 rebounds per game so really good numbers right off the bat there

Starting point is 00:10:06 Now, just one and a half assists per game compared to 2.2 turnovers per game. So you want to get that, you know, to where you're not having a negative assist to turnover ratio there. 1.2 steals to 0.3 blocks per game. Also 1.1 dunks per game. So, you know, that adds up there. 43% from the floor. So you'd like to see that a little bit higher. 31% from 3.

Starting point is 00:10:26 That's on 3.4 attempts per game and 69% at the foul line. So the shooting percentages are all fine. None of them are excellent necessarily. but do keep in mind because again if he has he's class of 2027 so theoretically again he could reclassify but theoretically um he could have two more years that basically means he is going into this season what would what would for all intents of purposes be his junior year of high school just from a before getting ready for college perspective and so if you were to say a sophomore in high school accomplished that at overtime elite against other dudes or four five star recruits

Starting point is 00:11:01 against other guys who are going to play college and are going to play pro that becomes even more impressive when you frame it that way. At the very least, if he does join in the class of 2026, you're still talking about high school junior there who's going to get better this next season. So impressive young player. Let's get to that conversation though. Class of 2026 or class of 2027. Today's episode's brought to you by Peloton. Peloton is shaping the future of fitness with a brand new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus. Powered by Peloton IQ. It's their most advanced equipment yet designed to give you real-time guidance and endless ways to move whether you're running, lifting, or cross-training with your favorite instructors. This is training

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Starting point is 00:12:20 out some of our other k u basketball we had other commitment content this week on locked on jhawks we had a lot of k ucf content this week on locked on jhawks and certainly plenty more to come this weekend okay So when it comes to the class of 2026 or 2027, some of the comments tell me that it's going to be possible either way, is how I'm reading into that with Bardwell, right? This doesn't feel like a situation where it's like, I don't know if he's going to be able to make it work this way or that way. It feels like it's more of a question of where's the money, where's the playing time, where's the opportunity, what's the best for my developmental path, all those sorts of questions that are the right questions that you should be asking if you're, you know, a five star prospect, right? And so from that perspective, again, if we get into next offseason and it's like, hey, I have an opportunity based on next year, right? What if Cole Rosario breaks out this year and Cole Rosario goes pro early?

Starting point is 00:13:07 And now there's just one less guy you're competing with on the wing. And it's like, yeah, I feel like I'm going to be a starter if I come in there, then maybe you're reclassify and join in 2026. If you feel like, yeah, maybe I'm going to be more like the seventh or eighth, man, I'm going to develop another year, make a little bit of cash at overtime elite and go off to Kansas and, you know, do my thing. All right, like, yeah, either way, that's going to be the case. But that's a good situation to have for Kansas, that they have this flexibility now that they can play it one of two ways.

Starting point is 00:13:33 And so you look at this year, 2026, Darren Peterson's team. You look at 2027. It could be Taylin Kinney's team, right? I mean, I guess you could say it, like El Marco Jackson is Redshirt Jr., but you know what I mean? And then you look at the following season. And maybe by then if Taylin Kinney's a one and done too, then you're looking at it being Javon Bardwell's team, right? So it just keeps you loaded with like future possible NBA talent each year regardless, or, it just means that you have an extra five star on your roster next year.

Starting point is 00:13:59 And so if he does join the 2026 to 27 squad, you could potentially be looking at like a back court of Talon Kinney, El Marco Jackson, and Cole Rosario with this kid playing, you know, at that point off the bench or even at the four. Or you could play too big basketball with Tiller next to like Mbia or, I don't know, like does Florey come back as a junior or whatever center recruit you're able to get this year? So like there's just a lot of options. And then, you know,

Starting point is 00:14:26 If you do fast forward to the 2027 to 28 season, like what if you have a redshirt senior, O'Marco Jackson with a, what if Taylor & Kenny does come back for a sophomore year? And then you have this kid as a freshman. I don't know. It's hard to predict rosters too far in the future with today's day and age of how things work. But point being this puts you in a really good spot with some flexibility with a really

Starting point is 00:14:46 good player for the next couple years of roster building and makes you feel like you have the cupboards continually full regardless of kind of what happens with some other player personnel decisions. All right, that'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. Check out our KUUCF content right here with LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - ANOTHER 5-STAR!!! JAVON BARDWELL TO KANSAS as Bill Self's Recruiting RAMPAGE Continues

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