Trust in Jerrance Howard helped deliver David McCormack to Kansas

By Matt Tait     Sep 25, 2017

Photo courtesy of Instagram
New Kansas commitment David McCormack, the No. 2-ranked center in the 2018 recruiting class, recently posted this picture of himself decked out in KU gear from his unofficial visit this summer. McCormack orally committed to KU on Sunday evening on live television in Virginia.

Known as a player’s coach who isn’t afraid to clown around, talk some trash and jump into the middle of a circle to show off his dance moves and free spirit, Kansas basketball assistant coach Jerrance Howard needed none of that to land four-star center David McCormack, who orally committed to Kansas on Sunday.

Head coach Bill Self, of course, played a huge role in convincing McCormack to join the Jayhawks, and the 6-foot-10, 260-pound center from Oak Hill Academy made that crystal clear during his live announcement Sunday evening on a Norfolk, Virginia, news broadcast.

But it was Howard who laid the foundation for the bond between McCormack and Kansas and he did it the old-fashioned way. No gimmicks. No flash. No fancy pitch. Just a dose of genuine interest and the strength of a real relationship.

“Coach Howard just kept an open line of communication,” McCormack told the Journal-World on Monday. “I spoke to him often. Any questions I asked he always answered straight-forward and, if he wasn’t able to, he found a way to get the information and did the best he could to get me the best answer possible. He just built a great relationship where I felt I could put trust in him, he could put trust in me and it was just a great two-way street.”

That path was built on the tradition that is Kansas basketball and McCormack said Howard sold it so hard that one might think he was a KU alum.

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Josh Jackson (11) gets a hug from assistant coach Jerrance Howard as he leaves the floor following the Jayhawks' 80-79 win over Texas Tech, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.

“Definitely,” said McCormack when asked if he could sense Howard’s passion for KU throughout the process. “He always talks about the heart, the tradition, the legacy, the championships, the winning program. I know he didn’t play at Kansas, but he did play for Coach Self and he has so much pride in that.”

As for whether Howard utilized any extra measures in his recruitment of McCormack, such as freestyle raps or social media tricks, the Oak Hill big man said Howard played it pretty straight.

“No, no, no,” said McCormack, laughing. “He is a guy who likes to joke around, but he didn’t do anything too crazy. He just showed his personality, which I was able to connect with immediately.”

McCormack’s bond with Howard carried through the entire recruiting process and left the 26th-ranked player in the Class of 2018 easily convince that Kansas was the place for him.

It helped that former Oak Hill teammate Billy Preston was already on campus and could share with him what it meant to be a Jayhawk. And it was an added bonus that Frank Mason III, who played for the same Team Loaded AAU program that produced McCormack, had already proven that a player from Virginia can become a star at Kansas.

“Billy’s my boy, you know,” McCormack said. “We played at Oak Hill together and have a good relationship. Billy’s a completely different player than I am so I wouldn’t say he really tied too much into my decision, but knowing somebody I know that’s there now and getting to talk to him and see how he’s doing really helps. I never really got a chance to talk to Frank, but it was very reassuring to know that somebody from the same program as me went there and is successful now. It really helped.”

With his decision now behind him and nothing but his senior season at Oak Hill and the countdown to Kansas in front of him, McCormack said his trip to KU this weekend, for Late Night in the Phog, would be an added bonus of the process.

McCormack did not purposely plan to announce the decision before his official visit to KU, but said simply, “It just kind of worked out that way. I found out it was the right place for me, I went ahead and made the decision and can come celebrate it now.”

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.