Final votes won’t be tallied until May, following the late signing period for national letters of intent.
But early indications are Kansas University’s men’s basketball recruiting class of 2005 definitely will rank as one of the top five in the country.
The two major recruiting services, which reserve the right to change their minds in the spring, have spoken, releasing their rankings with four days left in the early signing period.
Kansas has fared well. The Jayhawks’ class of Mario Chalmers, Micah Downs and Julian Wright ranked second in the U.S. by theinsiders.com and fourth by rivals.com.
Rivals.com has a top three of Duke (Josh McRoberts, Greg Paulus, Eric Boateng, Jamal Boykin and Martynas Pocius), Oklahoma State (Gerald Green, Byron Eaton, Terrell Harris and Roderick Flemings) and Washington (Martell Webster, Jon Brockman, Artem Wallace, Justin Dentmon, Harvey Perry and Roburt Sallie).
Teams ranked Nos. 4-10 are Kansas, Louisville, Memphis, Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi State and Connecticut.
Theinsiders.com’s top 10 consists of Duke, KU, Louisville, Washington, North Carolina, Mississippi State, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Alabama and UConn.
Individually, rivals.com ranks Wright No. 10 overall, Chalmers No. 12 and Downs No. 14. Theinsiders.com has Wright No. 5, Downs No. 13 and Chalmers No. 20.
KU has one scholarship to give during the spring period.
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Wright unselfish: Homewood-Flossmoor coach Roy Condiotti this week explained KU signee Wright’s 10-points-a-game average to the Daily Southtown Newspaper.
“Julian’s greatest asset is his passing,” Condiotti said. “I wish he’d shoot the ball more than he does, but when you get a kid who takes as much pride in getting an assist as he does a basket, it makes it fun for the other kids who enjoy playing with him.
“Julian’s basketball I.Q. is another really strong aspect of his game,” Condotti added of the 6-foot-8 perimeter player. “He understands the game very well, and he understands the matchups. I think that ability is really going to allow him to adjust quickly to the college game. He’ll have to make some adjustments, but I know he’ll do just fine.”
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Downs family ecstatic: The Seattle Times covered the signing ceremony of Downs, 6-8 from Bothell High in Kirkland, Wash.
“It’s kind of overwhelming,” Downs told the paper. “You always dream of going to a big school like this, but a lot of times you think that it might not happen, but it has.”
Downs’ father, Steve, who has been a KU fan for years, told the paper it was “one of the proudest days of my life.”
He wore a KU cap and jersey to the ceremony.
“I’m overwhelmed by it,” Steve Downs said. “I’m real thankful for the game of basketball because it has given my son a college education.”
Micah Downs this week was tapped No. 4 in the Long Beach Press-Telegram’s Best of the West poll of prep players. Brockman, 6-7 from Seattle was No. 1; 6-1 KU signee Chalmers of Anchorage, Alaska, and 6-6 Webster of Seattle tied for No. 2; Amir Johnson, 6-9 of Los Angeles, came in at No. 5.
High school seniors in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington were eligible for Best of the West plaudits. Sixty six college coaches and eight scouts did the voting.
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Can’t do it alone: KU coach Bill Self wants little credit for his signing of the three blue-chippers.
“The people that deserve the most credit for any good recruiting class are obviously the assistant coaches,” he said. “Joe Dooley identified Micah and Mario early, which may have given us a head start with those two. All three assistants — Joe, Tim (Jankovich) and Kurtis (Townsend) — did a great job in cultivating relationships with these three youngsters throughout the recruiting process.”
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Signing day: KU’s players stretched through the hallway outside the locker room at Allen Fieldhouse Friday to take turns signing autographed basketballs. The balls, which cost $149.95, are available at kustore.com.
The Jayhawks’ second and final exhibition game is against Washburn University. Tip is 7 p.m. Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.
