Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Locked On Jayhawks - 11.13.19

Episode Date: November 13, 2019

Bryce Thompson picks Kansas; Bill Self discusses Silvio De Sousa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, Jayhawk Nation? Welcome in to this Wednesday edition of Locked On Jayhawks. I am Sean Kellerman, Learfield IMG College Broadcaster and University of Kansas Insider. This is Locked On Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, giving you insight, numbers, and a chance to hear from all the voices within Kansas athletics. A little bit later in the show, we're going to get a chance to hear from Bill Self and Les Miles. Coach Self is going to talk about one of the key pieces of KU's team this year. And Coach Miles is going to talk about Carter Stanley and the fact that he could have gone elsewhere. But some of the reasons that Carter decided to stay, and Coach obviously is happy about that.

So we'll get a chance to hear from both head men a little bit later in the show. But obviously, we're going to start with the news of the day, the news of the week, when yesterday five-star guard Bryce Thompson out of Oklahoma picked RJ Hawks to come play guard next season. And there's just so many different levels of this. We're going to start with kind of the nuts and bolts of it. Bryce Thompson, he's a 6'5", 175-pound combo guard. He's been one of the fastest rising prospects in the 2020 class. He was ranked number 19th according to Rivals.com and picked the Jayhawks over finalists Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and North Carolina. He's a guy who has been considered

KU's top target, kind of similar to R.J. Hampton. He's actually kind of got a similar build to R.J. Hampton, who KU missed out on in favor of the New Zealand Sky City Breakers that R.J. Hampton opted to go play for instead of go to college ball, but Thompson is staying in the college game, and he's coming to play in Lawrence with the Jayhawks. He unzipped a hoodie and revealed a blue KU t-shirt underneath in his ceremony, which was broadcast on CBS Sports HQ. Give you a couple quotes that Thompson said about the Jayhawks, said, great fit for me.

Coach told him everything where he could fit in, showed him a lot of film, and told him how he could go in and make an impact. And he's considered by many to be an immediate impact player. And today is actually the day that the official early signing period arrives, so Thompson can make it official instead of just a verbal commitment as early as today. But Thompson mentioned his build. He's 6'5", can do a little bit of everything, and KU felt like they had an in on Bryce early because his dad, Rod Thompson, was coached by none other than Bill Self at Tulsa.

So Coach Self and Norm Roberts were in on the recruiting of Bryce Thompson. Thompson is a three-level scorer, according to Evan Daniels of CBS. And as I mentioned in the show yesterday, he was in Lawrence on Friday when KU battled UNC Greensboro. So we'll see if Thompson will come in as a two-guard. He's kind of more built like a two guard, but kind of moving the way of bigger, lankier point guards with all these combo guards needing to be able to handle the ball primarily. That could be the way that Thompson goes, particularly if Devon Dotson does, as expected, opt to go to the NBA following this season.

So with Thompson's arrival, logistically, this gives Kansas a very good recruiting class, and we'll get into the NCAA stuff in a little bit, but with Thompson, Kansas now has two four-stars and wing Tyen Grant Foster, who's a friend of Christian Brown's, and big man Jethro Muscadine, and now they've got a five-star in Thompson as well. Thompson's addition, according to the 24-7 Sports Class Calculator,

currently gives KU the number 11 overall class in the 2020 recruiting rankings, which is up from the number 50 spot where they were with just Grant Foster and Muscadine before Thompson's commitment today. Thompson describes himself as a good leader who likes to get others involved, and that's going to be key for this Kansas team. You kind of look at what this team can look like next season. You're going to get redshirt point guard DeJuan Harris as well. This is just going to strengthen KU's guard situation,

particularly suffering the blow of Devon Dotson leaving and Ochai Abadji potentially leaving. Marcus Garrett should be back for his senior year. You should have Jalen Wilson and Christian Brown back as well. Tristan Inaruna is a guy who can play a little bit of guard as well, so that's good to know this depth of the KU team already forming for the 2020-2021 season. All right, so we talked about how that shot Kansas up to number 11 in the 24-7 composite class. If you look at rivals, which is obviously one of the more popular recruiting classes,

Kansas moves up to the eighth best recruiting class with Thompson's commitment. Just for fun, we'll look at the teams that are ahead of the Jayhawks. One, two, and three is Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky. Duke already has six commitments, two of them five stars, and the other four are four stars. UNC has five commitments, three five stars, and two four stars. Kentucky, four commitments, two five, and two four. And then four, five, and six all have three commitments. Tennessee is number four. Texas Tech is number five.

They got a huge commitment today, yesterday I should say. And Florida State is number four. Texas Tech is number five. They got a huge commitment today, yesterday I should say. And Florida State is number six. And then Oklahoma State, another Big 12 team, they are seventh overall. They've got two commitments. And Kansas with their three commitments now with Thompson sitting eighth on rivals recruiting class for 2020. So a huge jump for the Jayhawks. And by the way, you mentioned those Big

12 teams. The Big 12 is doing pretty well in the early stages, assuming that everybody who committed verbally will sign with the early signing period beginning today. In addition to those teams I mentioned, both Baylor and Kansas State are in the top 20 for the recruiting class. Take a look really quickly at their commitments. Baylor has three commitments from four stars. Zach Loveday is a center. And then they've got a forward and a guard, all four stars coming in for the Bears. And K-State has four commitments, two of whom are four stars and three, two rather, are three stars.

Again, this is all according to rivals.com the two teams that are kind of surprisingly ahead of kansas may be surprising maybe not given everything that's gone on and the success of texas tech and in particular our texas tech and oklahoma state texas tech hops to fifth with yesterday's commitment From five-star guard Namari Burnett Out of Napa, California He joins a pair of four-star forwards Micah Peavy and Chibuzo Ogbo And then Oklahoma State

They're seventh They have just two commitments But one's a five and one's a four-star Cade Cunningham He was a KU target He is a 6'7", 215-pound guard And now we're going to get a chance to see Cunningham twice during the year, and it's going to be Cunningham against Thompson,

two tall guards who can run the show and do a little bit of everything. That'll be a lot of fun. Rondell Walker, another top 100 recruit, is a four-star. He's a point guard that will be joining the Cowboy class and Mike Boyden next season as well. So that's kind of a look at where the Big 12 is at with five teams in the top 17, according to Rivals.com recruiting classes for 2020-2021.

The other thing, in my opinion, that this Thompson commitment does, it gives Kansas three guys. You've got two four-stars and a point guard, a guy who is going to take the reins from Devon Dotson in all likelihood, but it shows that the KU brand is still there. There was so much concern about Bill Self and this KU program because of the notice of NCAA allegations, and there were so many questions about, all right, what's this team going to do? Is anybody going to come here? We got a little bit of momentum with Grant Foster and Muscadine

announcing their commitments, and now this is the key chip for this KU class, and knowing that the KU brand is still alive and well with all that's been going on. It's a credit to Bill Self and the KU coaching staff. Obviously, they've been in the news for reasons that they don't want to be in the news for a lot, and they've admitted Coach Self has said it's affected recruiting, but the fact that Kansas can get this guy, Bryce Thompson, that is just huge for the program moving forward. And again, it's kind of funny thinking about where we were in April when we were thinking, all right, well, Mitch Leifert and Christian Brown,

you guys are up, you guys are up. You guys are going to be in the starting lineup. We don't know about Silvio or Yudoka or Devon Dotson. Are they going to come back to play for Kansas this year? We don't know if we're going to get any recruits. And then all of a sudden, you get all three of those guys back, and then you add Tristan Inaruna and Jalen Wilson to Christian Brown as part of the recruiting class,

and Kansas comes in as the number three ranked team in the country entering the season. And then six months later, here we are talking about next year's recruiting class and how it's stacked as well. And there's a lot of time to go on that. Kansas can even add to it. But a great start so far. Bryce Thompson, the key piece in KU's 2020-2021 recruiting class. He commits yesterday, and he will be a Jayhawk next season.

Can't wait to see him play in Lawrence alongside those four-star guys, Jethro Musketin and Tyane Grant-Foster. Coming up on the show, we'll hear from Bill Self and Les Miles. This is the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day all right we're going to hear from coach self and coach miles a little bit later in the show of course but still kind of riding this high about the news yesterday that bryce thompson five-star guard out of oklahoma is committing to the Jayhawks, and he will be a part of the roster next season, along with incoming guys Ty and Grant Foster, a JUCO guy, one of the top-rated JUCO players, and big man and soon-to-be freshman

Jethro Musketon as well. So Kansas, despite everything that's gone on with the NCAA and the FBI investigation, everything like that, they continue to recruit. Bill Self and his coaching staff have done a phenomenal job kind of weaving their way through everything that's gone on. And again, they haven't been able to tell their side of the story at all yet. So the fact that they've been able to get these guys is even more impressive. A couple more things that Thompson said in his commitment.

Thank you for the love last Friday, and I can't wait to get on campus. He also said, I'm excited about coming. I'm 100% yours, and I can't wait to get to work. Those messages to Jayhawk Nation. He was in Lawrence, as I mentioned, last Friday to make one final unofficial visit for the UNC Greensboro game, a game that Jayhawks won 74-62. Evan Daniels of 24-7 Sports, the recruiting director, said this is a tremendous talent of Thompson. He said that Thompson has just steadily gotten better over the last year. He's a three-level scorer, meaning he can get to the rim,

hit mid-range jumpers, and shoot from outside. He's put in a lot of work, has Bryce, over the past year to be able to become a top-tier talent. Daniels also said he viewed him as a two-guard, but now guys are pretty much being called combo guards now. In today's basketball in general, you basically need to be able to do everything, and it sounds like Kansas is getting their man in the 6'5", Bryce Thompson. College basketball analyst Jeff Goodman tweeted, Huge pickup for Bill Self and the Jayhawks,

who have struggled to land big-time guys lately in wake of FBI investigation. And Jerry Meyer of 24-7 Sports Recruiting said, Kansas is getting a guard with the entire offensive package in Bryce Thompson. Love the way he navigates the defense and makes plays. Just absolutely love hearing all this about a guy who is, he was all smiles when he made his recruitment announcement, got a KU shirt, KU hat, and obviously a lot of support from his family and friends.

So it's great to see that Bryce is coming to Lawrence and he'll be a part of what should be another top-tier team in Lawrence despite everything that's gone on. Again, major credit to the KU coaching staff. Hopefully that stuff gets figured out sooner rather than later. But in the meantime, we know that we're still going to have guys. We're still going to be able to compete at a high level because of the ability of our coaches to go out and recruit top guys, get them to Lawrence, and then of course the X's and

O's, all the motivational factors that the coaches bring to the table as well. All right, one guy on the current Kansas team who doesn't need any help with motivation, I wouldn't think, is Silvio De Sosa. Silvio has struggled in the first two regular season games this year. He showed some spurts in the exhibition games, but it seems like he's not catching a lot of breaks and he's just not getting a lot of shots to fall. And honestly, with the teams that Kansas has played, with the rotations they've opted to go for, he hasn't been on the court very much. Silvio, particularly in the last game against UNC Greensboro, he and David McCormick did a lot of sitting on the bench while Yudoka Azubuji manned the five spot,

and Kansas went with guards on the other side. You had four out and one in, and it's going to be a game-by-game for that. We've heard Bill Self and the guys talk about it, how it's really going to depend on the matchup. Ideally, Kansas would be able to have two bigs on the court and take advantage of their size, but it's going to be a matchup situation, and hopefully Kansas can take advantage of that more games than not.

But, as I said, things have not gone probably as Silvio has hoped in the early stages of this season. His coach, Bill Self, talking about how Silvio just needs something to go his way. I thought he was a ton better tonight than he was the other night. But still, he needs something good to happen for him. He couldn't get a ball down and had a really good offensive rebound on a free throw where he didn't make it going back a little layup. But those are good things. He was more explosive and more aggressive going after the ball.

So he'll get better at that. But the reality of it is when we played him two years ago he played with four guards the whole time. So job was ball screen to run the rim. It wasn't complicated. He didn't have to stretch it. He didn't make any shots outside of 10 foot or anything like that. So he needs to get back to playing that way and then, you know, kind of stretch his skill set a little bit after that.

But I thought he did fine. I thought his attitude was really good too. Not surprising about Silvio's attitude. We've heard some of his sound bites on this show when he's been interviewed and talked about how he just wants to figure out what he can do to give back to Jayhawk Nation everything they had given to him. So he does not need help in the motivation factor, I wouldn't think. Great attitude, just needs some things to go his way and kind of get back in the flow like he had to his freshman year as well kind of coming in late in the season getting his feet wet hopefully that happens soon bill self though talking about how he thinks silvio and company could give a

little bit more silvio can give us a lot more than what he is right now and i think david you know david made a shot in the first half but but david and and doe combined i still don't think we're getting the production out of that out of those guys that we potentially can. But it was much better. It was much better, and I think we'll continue to get better taking care of the basketball. Coach Self undoubtedly looking for more production from those guys. He got a double-double out of Yudoka Azubuki with the 10 points and 10 boards against Greensboro.

But in terms of the other guys, they weren't playing very much, but Silvio in just six minutes, 0-3 from the field, a couple rebounds, and David McCormick played just 11 minutes, two points on one of two from the field. And of course, the first game, David McCormick, he had six points and 13 boards against Duke, but Silvio, no field goals made, just 3 free throws made in that game.

So production-wise, I'm sure Coach obviously is looking for much more from those guys. It's going to depend on matchups, how much they're going to get in. But when they're in, hopefully they can contribute to this team in a very big way. Coming back, we're going to hear from Les Miles. We're also going to recap the games that happened in the Big 12 last night. There were three Big 12 basketball games going on, and we'll talk about those and some of the big performances from some of KU's rivals. Manscaped is number one in men's below-the-belt grooming.

Get 20% off and free shipping with the code LOCKEDON at manscaped.com. This is the Locked On Podcast Network, the local experts on the biggest stories. Wrapping things up here on Locked On Jayhawks. Thanks again for tuning in. Follow me on Twitter at Sean Kellerman. Follow the show at LO underscore Jayhawks. Been enjoying every minute of Locked On Jayhawks so far, the first three or four weeks of doing this,

and looking forward to bringing you this show every Monday through Friday. Keep you up to date on everything KU athletics. Well, before we recap the Big 12 games that happened last night, the story of the night for College Hoops was Evansville, the Purple Aces going into Lexington and defeating the number one ranked Kentucky Wildcats in an absolute shocker of an upset. Evansville 67, Kentucky 64.

Old friend alert, Sam Cunliffe. Two clutch free throws late to give Evansville their 66th and 67th points. And Cunliffe had 17 points. The former Jayhawk showing out for the Purple Aces. The Missouri Valley picks up a big-time win, Evansville's first ever win against an AP number one opponent. So there you go.

We were so down after KU loses to Duke, and Duke was so high, and Kentucky was so high, I'm sure, after beating Michigan State, and now that's going to be a big drop in terms of feelings and potentially rankings as well for that UK team, and that could have major impacts on March as well, losing to a mid-major on their home court. I think I said three games from the Big 12 last segment were in action. Actually, it was four games. Texas defeated California Baptists 67-54, and in that game, Courtney Ramey led the way with 16 points for the Horns. Iowa State was close at halftime with Northern Illinois, but they held Northern Illinois to just 18 points, 18 of their 52 were in the second half. Iowa State won 70-52. And for

the Cyclones, it was Rasier Bolton leading the way with 17 points. And Solomon Young seems like he's been there forever. He had 15 points and 7 boards. Michael Jacobson chipped in 9 points and 12 boards for the Cyclones, who improved to 2-1 on the year. TCU in a high-scoring affair hangs 98 points on Louisiana. 98-65. The Horned Frogs pick up the victory.

Desmond Bain, one of six Frogs and double figures. He scored 25 points. He had seven boards and five assists. He, of course, was on the preseason All-Big 12 team, and he showed out in the big-time victory over Louisiana for the Frogs. And in the late game, a part of phil knight classic taking place in portland oklahoma defeated oregon state 77 to 69 a perfect 4-0 night for the big 12 in terms of men's hoops christian doolittle led the way 19 points and 16 rebounds for the senior doolittle who also dished

out four assists the wichita state transfer austin Reeves was next in line scoring with 17 points. He hit five threes. Oklahoma over Oregon State. Good night for the Big 12 and tonight three more games in action. Kansas State is hosting Monmouth, the team that KU will face in just two days. That game's at seven o'clock. Another seven o'clock tip. Texas Tech travels to Houston Baptist. That game is in Midland, Texas. And then Oklahoma State travels to take on a Charleston team. In Charleston, South Carolina, that game is at 8 o'clock tonight. That's your Big 12 recap.

So we've been talking about Bryce Thompson and a big get for the KU basketball program, how he will come in and likely be the starting point guard next season for this team. Catch everybody up on a couple of downsides on the recruiting end for football. KU football in the past couple days has lost two offensive line recruits, both of them three-star recruits coming in for the offensive line, and KU is going to need a lot of bodies, so unfortunate situation. It's kind of interesting reading what these guys posted on Twitter. The first person to decommit was Jackson Stephan. Jackson said, at this point in time, Kansas is going in a different direction,

so I will be taking the opportunity to look at other schools. I would like to inform everyone that my recruitment is 100% open, and I will be exploring all options to continue my playing career elsewhere. Thank you to everyone who has been here along this journey. This is a hard decision, but one I have felt I have to make. So that was Jackson Stephan, and then not long after, Tommy Brandt, another three-star. He's an offensive tackle out of St. Paul, Minnesota. He announced that he was parting ways with the Jayhawks on Monday.

He said on Twitter, I have decided to reopen my recruitment 100% and am parting ways with the University of Kansas. I am excited to learn more about other schools and their football programs. Thanks to everyone who has helped me throughout this process. Both originally committed to KU back in June. And, you know, we don't really know what's going on behind the scenes, but we do know that the Jayhawks are obviously going to need some more offensive

line recruits to come into the program. Losing guys like Hakeem Adeneji is going to be a big loss for Kansas. They're bringing in, the Jayhawks are a couple guys for reinforcements. There's a guard, Garrett Jones, who's coming in. He's ranked 139 in terms of guards in the 24-7 sports composite for 2020. And then offensive tackle, Nicholas Martinez, who's ranked 174 on that list. Both of those guys are three-star prospects as well, but I'm sure Luke Meadows and Les Miles and company are going to be looking

forward to getting some more guys on board. You hate when these guys commit and then decommit but alas Jackson Stephan and Tommy Brandt are moving on and the Jayhawks will do the same one guy for the Jayhawks who did not move on when he would have had an opportunity is quarterback Carter Stanley Carter has been a guy who's had so many ups and downs through his career. And I believe the number is eight in terms of different offensive coordinators or play callers that Carter Stanley has played under in his time at Kansas as he's here a redshirt fifth year senior. Of course, we think we've got the right guy right now, finally, in Brent Dierman.

But the point is, Carter could have left and he chose to stay. Here's Coach Miles talking about Carter's decision to stay for his final year here at KU. He played most and his film was pretty good. And so he decided to stay and work out and was behind at a point and was very confident to really take back the job that he had finished second and for a second. So it was a wise move because it puts him in the position that he's in right now, leading the team and playing virtually every snap. Asked then to describe Carter Stanley, KU's signal caller, Coach Miles responded with this.

Tough, competitive, leader, talented enough to do the things that need being done. So, looking forward to seeing him play in this one. Carter, of course, didn't have his best performance. A lot of Jayhawks can say that, though, in the loss against Kansas State. KU's last time out. Seems like it's been forever now. November 2nd, 38-10 are in favor of the Wildcats in the Sunflower Showdown. KU finally will get a chance to get that taste out of their mouths, but it's not going to be easy. They're on the road facing a 6-3 Oklahoma State team led by star running back Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State, hosting our Jayhawks at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Thanks so much for listening. And of course, as the week goes on, we're going to

hear more from Bill Self. KU basketball will take on Monmouth that game Friday at seven o'clock. We'll hear more from Coach Miles as well. Coach Self actually has a press conference coming up tomorrow, so we'll get some fresh sound and hear from some of the guys as well. Coach Self actually has a press conference coming up tomorrow, so we'll get some fresh sound and hear from some of the guys as well. So we look forward to covering that game and continuing a great season of Kansas basketball. Can't wait to see what's in store for this team. Thanks so much again. This is Sean Kellerman signing off Locked On Jayhawks, a product of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.