There’s no chance Kansas University’s “other” transfer will be playing basketball at the University of North Carolina next year.
Omar Wilkes, a 6-foot-4 guard from Los Angeles — who, like David Padgett, announced plans to transfer from KU in April — has a final list of California-Berkeley and Stanford.
Wilkes has applied for admission to Stanford, long considered his likely destination. All indications were that his application would be accepted.
“He’s got two choices he’s excited about. It’s on his time frame right now,” Wilkes’ mom, Valerie, said.
Wilkes, who decided to leave KU to be closer to home, is in Lincoln, Neb., this weekend to attend the wedding of the brother of KU guard Nick Bahe.
The Wilkes family was unaware North Carolina had entered the sweepstakes for Padgett, Omar’s KU roommate.
“Now I have something to tell him when he calls (from Nebraska),” Wilkes’ mom said Friday. “We had heard it was UCLA or Louisville.”
“Yesterday,” Keating, KU’s senior associate athletic director, quipped.
In reality, he hopes he can find two more home games and complete the slate as soon as possible.
“The sooner the better,” said Keating, who recently added a home opponent in South Carolina. Dave Odom’s Gamecocks will play here next season with the Jayhawks returning the game in 2006-07.
“We’re doing season ticket renewals shortly. It’d be helpful to have the schedule when we do the renewals.”
KU and all other schools in the country still are awaiting word from U.S. district court about whether the 2-and-4 rule limiting schools to two exempt events every four years will be rescinded.
If KU is allowed to play in an exempt event next season, the Jayhawks will try to land a spot in one of the many prestigious preseason tournaments.
If KU is not in an exempt event, the team likely will take a foreign tour to Canada during the Labor Day weekend and play four exhibition games in either the Toronto or Vancouver area.
KU’s schedule includes home games against South Carolina, St. Joseph’s, Georgia Tech, Wyoming, Nevada, Vermont and TCU and games at Kentucky and Villanova.
How did the South Carolina series come about?
“Coach Odom, at the basketball rules committee meeting, said he was in a situation they were looking for away games. They had a bunch of home games,” Keating said of the NCAA meeting in May in Phoenix. “Chances are we’ll not return the game until ’06 because we’ve got enough away games in ’05.”
Hansbrough, who plays the same position as Padgett, told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com he has not spoken to Carolina coach Roy Williams since it was announced the Heels were interested in Padgett.
“I really don’t know what I am going to do, but I will think about that when I return from my visit,” Hansbrough said. “I do not know if anything has changed or not. I have not talked to coach Williams since they got involved with David.”