Withey has Kansas high on transfer list

Jeff Withey’s high school coach says there’s a good chance the 7-foot University of Arizona freshman will be playing basketball at KU second semester.

“Jeff speaks highly of Kansas. I think they (Jayhawks) have a really good shot at landing the big fella,” Waheed Mitchell, Withey’s former coach at San Diego’s Horizon High, said Tuesday.

Withey — he averaged 20.8 points, 13.0 rebounds, 7.3 blocks and 4.1 assists as a senior — asked to be released from his scholarship at U of A after the resignation of Lute Olson.

Mitchell told the Bremerton, Wash., Kitsap Sun newspaper there was an “80 percent chance” Withey would choose KU over Texas, Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Indiana, San Diego, San Diego State and Boston College.

Mitchell didn’t mention any percentages in his interview with the Journal-World.

“Kansas is very much an option. He likes the coaches at Kansas. He went to Late Night in the Phog. He knows everything there is to know about Kansas,” Mitchell said.

What kind of player would KU get in Withey, Rivals.com’s No. 36-ranked player in the Class of 2008? He’d be eligible to practice immediately and play in games in late December of 2009.

“He has very good touch from eight to 10 feet and can also shoot the 3-ball,” Mitchell said. “He’s very skilled. He’s also very humble. He’s always been a team guy, very coachable.”

Two-sport athlete to decide Thursday

Bryant Allen, a 6-foot, 160-pound football wide receiver from Maplewood (Mo.) High, will announce for one of six schools — KU, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois State — on Thursday. All six schools will allow him to play football on scholarship and also walk-on the basketball team.

Allen told Rivals.com he visited with KU coach Bill Self as part of Sunday’s football recruiting trip to KU. Allen said Self told him he could play basketball after football season if he kept his grades up.

“It was an honor just to meet him,” Allen told Rivals.com.

Allen spent some time with KU football offensive coordinator Ed Warinner.

“He has gotten to know me as a person more than a football recruit,” Allen said. “They made me feel like I was at home,” Allen added of the football team. “I really bonded with them in just one day.”

In hoops, Allen averaged 25.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 4.1 assists per game his junior year for the Missouri state champs. He made 51.3 percent of his threes and 82.8 percent of his free throws. He was MVP of last weekend’s Webster Groves Classic. He had 29 points in the title game and set the tourney record with 84 points.