Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Gets Commitment from Australian Wing Top 50 Recruit Johnny Furphy

Episode Date: August 3, 2023

Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team got a commitment from class of 2024 wing Johnny Furphy, a 6'7" forward from Melbourne, Australia, who will reclassify into the class of 2023 and join KU to be their 11th scholarship player. What Furphy adds to the mix at the wing position with Kevin McCullar and others, his short-term vs long-term impact, and will Kansas be done adding to the 2023-2024 team's roster?Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Terms and conditions apply.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this bonus episode of Locked on Jayhawks, we're going to be talking Johnny Furphy. He's committed to Kansas. He is a class of 2024 commit who has reclassed to 2023. Is he the final piece of the puzzle? Always nice to have an Australian aboard with the KU basketball team and going to international waters. It's worked out for KU in the past. Let's talk about it on this bonus episode of the show.

You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson. You can hear me as well, Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. on KLWN in Lawrence with Rock Chalk Sports Talk. Thanks for making Locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day.

And this is a bonus episode of the show. So this is what you get for being an everydayer. You get the bonus episodes. You can find them anywhere you get your podcast or on our YouTube page. Like and subscribe to the page. As you might be noticing on our YouTube, we're in the slow process of changing up our studio game so uh we promise it's gonna keep getting better i know you know visually we're still working on getting even more but you know slow steps slow steps so nonetheless the reason you're here kansas lands johnny furphy a great name first of all furphy

is amazing i can't think of another player that is even similar to that. An interesting player. The recruitment really ramped up about a month ago for this kid. He was originally in the class of 2023. So that's the beauty of this. This isn't just a kid who, you know, he was in the class of 2024 and he decided to, you know, come up and now he's going to have to come to KU when he's, you know, 16, 17 years old and he's

not going to be ready to play right away. No, 2023 was his original classification. So you don't have to worry about that. He eventually wasn't seeing all the recruitment that he wanted. He's originally from Australia. Maybe a little bit harder to get an eye on you when you're not playing at the AAU circuit level in the United States or something. So he decided to push back to the class of 2024 to give him more chances at being recruited, go to prep school and do that thing that a lot of kids end up doing. Well, it turns out he came over for some events over the summer, played really well. He got the eye of a lot of different high-level basketball schools, obviously Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, the list goes on and on and on, the who's who of college basketball. of different high level basketball schools obviously kansas duke north carolina you know

list goes on and on and on the who's who of college basketball and there was kind of a question for him of do i because kansas wanted him obviously as you can see now for the class of 2023 they could use another roster or another uh body on the roster they have the scholarships open you want more players in case of injury or or whatnot the course of the year, and he comes in and fills that just perfectly. You can get him another year of development as opposed to waiting until 2024. From his standpoint, he's probably going, man, if I wait another year, like I have all these

schools calling my way, right? Kansas was able to convince him to come. Now, I don't know what his status will be for the Puerto Rico trip. Our Friday show of Locked on Jayhawks is going to be breaking down what happens in the first game of the Puerto Rico trip for Kansas. So stick around for that on tomorrow's episode. But we'll see if Fern Fee is able to make it down there in time.

I'd imagine he won't for the first game. But will he at least be like sitting on the bench for the second game, maybe playing in the third game? Can he make it down there? Possibly. It is important, though, because he is from Australia. And from an NIL perspective, those are part of the rules where you can only get paid as an international player in nil it's the dumbest rule ever but it's true um if you're overseas so like that's kentucky with oscar shibu i forget where they went out of uh you know the states last year but that's where oscar shibu made his whatever millions of dollars or however much money ended up being so it actually actually probably important for Fern fee to get out there to maybe get

him some sort of NIL deal while he's over there. But he is a six foot seven, 180 pounds, small forward. So very good height and size. You're going to be looking to add a little bit more weight there. He's from the NBA global Academy in Melbourne, Australia.

That size, I would think most likely makes him a three for Kansas, but if you can add that more weight to him, if you can get them up to, you know, two Oh five to 10, Australia, that size I would think most likely makes him a three for Kansas. But if you can add that more weight to him, if you can get him up to 205, 210, we'll see how doable that is. Maybe he can play some four for you. And who knows, maybe because of the size and because Kansas doesn't have a lot of four men on this roster, like with Marcus Adams gone, okay, KJ is going to play the four for you, but is he going to end up being better as a five?

You could play two big basketball with Parker Brown at the four, but are you going to want to do that? Um, Kevin McCuller could play the four for you, but he's more of a wing at the kind of three position. You don't really have, like, you're not going to play one of the small guards. Jamari McDowell is only like six, five. You're not going to play those guys at the four Fern fee at 180 pounds. Probably not.

Ideally you're playing him at the four, but he actually is one of your better options on this current roster. So it does give you a little bit more depth at a couple positions at the three, at the four. If Kevin McCuller has a rolled ankle or something that we've seen in the past, it gives you a little bit more insurance there. He is ranked number 45 overall with on three. That's the only side of the big three that I can think of rivals 24, seven and on three that That's the only side of the big three that I can think of rivals 24 seven and on

three that has him ranked. The reason why I know 24 seven sports does this. I don't know if rivals does this too. They do not. It's just a rule they have as a industry. They don't rank international kids. I understand why there's already so many kids in the United States. You have to cover if you're having to go across the world, like it's just going to get hard. And how do you get the right tape and situation? So I understand why they do that, but they do scout them. And I forget who it was from 24-7 sports. It might've been Eric Bossy who said that, yeah, he would be in that, you know, kind

of mid high four-star range if you were in this class. But again, number 45 and on three for the class of 2024. So this is a very good recruit, clearly. The scouting report on him, if he is anything like a lot of these Australian players who have come over to college basketball or the NBA, I immediately think of smart, tough basketball players who have good feel for the game. Like think about St. Mary's, everything they've done. They have had kind of a pipeline in Australia.

So you think of your Matthew Delvedova's, Patty Mills, some of those guys. You think of some of the guys in the NBA, like your Joe Ingalls, Josh Giddey, who have good feel for the game, good touch, are smart, but they are tough basketball players. And those things endear yourself well with Bill Self. He was at the NBA Academy Games, averaged 14.8 points per game,

seven and a half rebounds per game over an assist per game, just under two steals per game. So active on the defensive side and he shot 45% from the field. From what I've seen on the highlights, which are obviously limited, they're just highlights, dude is a legit athlete. He can get up there, he can throw throw down he can get some big blocks and he is going to you know defend you and get up into you and play that tough brand of basketball um i've seen him hit some shots but you know based on the lack of stats i've seen or the lack

of mentioning this in the scouting report i kind of get the sense that he's a scorer he can shoot but they're still trying to add more to that game. But there's a lot here to like, and maybe long-term that can be there. I want to get to what the short-term, long-term impact for Fern Fee could be with this team in just a second, and will they be done now that they have 11 scholarships on this bonus episode of Locked on Jayhawks? First, though, this episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high-stakes wager for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best qualified candidates available.

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you'd like to interview and hire you want to add the right team member you want to add maybe that final piece to the puzzle okay you just added johnny fern fee maybe he can be the final piece of the puzzle for ku maybe he can be the one thing they're missing over the course of the season that helps them cut down the nets in march. You want to do that with your small business, except it's not just one NCAA tournament with, you know, KU basketball for your business. It's your life. It's every day of the week. So you want to get that right candidate. You can do that with LinkedIn jobs, small businesses, right? LinkedIn jobs, number one in delivering quality hires versus leading

competitors. LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on college. That's linkedin.com slash locked on college to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Okay, the short and long term impact for Johnny Fernfee coming to KU. I think the short term, I'm not sure how many minutes are going to be available. Some of the comments around this make it sound like there is almost an expectation that there should be some, but it's going to be tough. We've detailed before in our minutes projections, like

that eighth man in the rotation. If you're going to assume that DeJuan Harris, Arterio Morris, Elmarco Jackson, Nick Timberlake, Kevin McCuller, KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson. If those are your seven, the eighth man might only have 10, 12 minutes available. And I've heard glowing reviews. I think Gary Bedore just posted a piece in the Kansas City Star about Parker Brown, even more glowing reviews and what he's bringing to the table, right? And he might just have the leg up on that eighth man for that reason. And maybe it's even something where, you know, those extra few weeks, extra few months of practice

are going to help him in that way. So that makes it difficult. But maybe there are a few minutes you could shed here or there. Maybe, you know, DeJuan plays 32 instead of 34. Maybe Arterio and El Marco are closer to 20 than 24. Maybe Timberlake is around 15 to 20 as opposed to 25. Maybe Kevin's getting 28 instead of 32. You know, you can shave off minutes here or there if this kid is good enough that he can get on the floor right away. So I think in the short term, you're looking at

him as being more Kevin McCuller insurance in case there is a rolled ankle or injury or foul trouble kind of playing spot minutes right away in year one with the increased chance of possibly being the eighth man. But it's going to be tough to crack even higher than that, I think, in year one, even though that could be a role on the team. I think this does also short-term increase the chance Jamari McDowell would redshirt, which is something that Bill Self kind of hinted at about a week ago at a media availability. Long-term impact, Kevin McCuller is going to be gone after this year. You're going to need another wing. You're going to need wing depth.

I think long-term, Bill Self might want to go back to playing with three wings. I think they just went with what they could find, the best talent available in the portal and everything, and in freshman recruiting, and then you go with it. But I wouldn't be surprised if that's the way that Bill Self wants to go. Nonetheless, whether he fills in for the starter as Kevin McCuller come next season, or he could be maybe a depth piece this year, rotation piece next year, maybe starter by year three.

Either way, the future does seem bright for this kid. And he's a high enough rank recruit that if he sticks around in time at Kansas, you expect him to develop into being a really good player. And I like all the traits matching up with what Bill Self asks for. The last thing here is this gets KU to 11 scholarship players. Will they go to 12? At this point, I would be a little bit surprised just because the, I don't know, you're kind of scraping at the bottom of the barrel, not saying that the players are not good, who are still available or could be

available. It's just, you don't have a lot of other options. And so at this point, if you haven't brought someone on who's already out there, it's probably a sign you don't really want them at this point. So maybe there could be some late grad transfer, something that change it. Maybe there could be somebody that falls into KU's lap. If somebody falls into KU's lap, I think Kansas would absolutely say yes. They would say, absolutely, we will take you on. But I also don't think Kansas is at a point where they're saying, we have to add that 12th scholarship player. And after the Marcus Adams stuff and Chris Johnson stuff,

if they end up with just 11 and Fern Fee, I think they would be just fine with it. So at this point, I would say probably, I don't know, 60 to 70% chance for me that they stay at 11. But that still leaves a big chunk that they could go to 12. And I've been wrong many times before. I'll be wrong again. So it wouldn't shock me either way, but that's just my take on it right now.

I will have another episode tomorrow on game one takeaways from KU in Puerto Rico for the opener. That'll do it for this episode of locked on Jayhawks. You can find us wherever you get any of your podcasts. Thank you to all the everydayers out there. Thank you to all everybody who tuned in for the whole episode. Give us a like if you could. Give us a positive review if it's a podcast listening,

audio listening type of site. And see you next time with Hawktown Jayhawks.