In the running: A look at some of the top basketball preps still considering the Jayhawks

By Gary Bedore     Jul 19, 2015

Josh Jackson puts up a shot in the Under Armour Elite 24 Game in this photo from Aug. 23, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York. Jackson, ranked the No. 1 recruit in the country, has Kansas University on his short list.

Notes compiled as the July basketball recruiting evaluation period continues …

Josh Jackson, a 6-foot-7 senior shooting guard from Prolific Prep in Napa, California, who is ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2016 by Rivals.com, has a list of KU, Arizona, Kentucky, Duke, Louisville, Michigan State, Maryland, UNLV and North Carolina.

“I want a college coach that is going to push me to get better,” Jackson, who is originally from Detroit, tells ESPN.com.

ESPN’s Reggie Rankin says of Jackson: “He is a treat to watch compete. He plays every possession on both ends of the floor, is an above-the-rim finisher on the break and is a threat to rebound and take it coast to coast. He gets to the rim with short straight-line drives, hits high arcing floaters in the lane, posts smaller defenders and can hit the open three with his feet set. Jackson is also a terrific defender with the toughness to lock up all five positions on the high school level.”

• Terrance Ferguson, a 6-6 senior shooting guard from Dallas who is ranked No. 11 nationally by Rivals.com, is considering KU, Louisville, North Carolina, Arizona, Alabama, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma State and others.

“Ferguson is one of the best vertical athletes and long-range shooters in the class. He is also a notoriously streaky shooter who can score in bunches. Ferguson apparently added the feature of being a lockdown defender and was perhaps the best defensive player of the high schoolers on the (USA basketball) Under 19 squad,” writes ESPN.com’s John Stovall.

• De’Aaron Fox, a 6-3 senior point guard from Cypress Lakes High in Katy, Texas, who is ranked No. 9 nationally, tells Zagsblog.com he has heard the most from coaches from KU, Texas, Louisville and LSU. He’s also considering Baylor, N.C. State and others.

“I like the way they (Jayhawks) have played over the last couple of years,” Fox told Zagsblog.com in a recent interview. “I don’t think they’ve had the point guards that they could’ve gotten. Frank (Mason III) played really well the last two years. Right now they’re in South Korea and he’s leading them in points, steals, assists, almost every category, and I think if I was to go there I don’t think Frank will be there (instead in NBA) so I think I could just kind of step into the role.”

• Malik Monk, a 6-3 senior shooting guard from Bentonville (Arkansas) High, who is ranked No. 6 nationally, is considering Arkansas, Kentucky, KU, North Carolina, Oregon, Florida State and others.

He’s been compared to Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. “(Playing like that) is something I’m going to try to do going forward,” Monk told Zagsblog.com.

• Troy Brown Jr., a 6-6 junior point guard from Las Vegas Centennial who is ranked No. 7 in the Class of 2017, is considering KU, Duke, UCLA, Arizona, UNLV and others. His sister is KU women’s player Jada Brown.

“Yeah, (KU) is one of the possible schools because my sister goes there and all that stuff,” Brown told Zagsblog.com. “With coach (Kurtis) Townsend, and coach (Bill) Self especially, they’re a good program and I really like them.”

• Mitch Lightfoot, 6-7 senior forward from Gilbert (Arizona) Christian who is ranked No. 140 nationally, tells Rivals.com he’s considering KU, Arizona, Stanford and Utah. He plans to visit KU this fall.

• Dewan Huell, a 6-9 senior power forward from Norland High in Miami who is ranked No. 22 nationally, is considering KU, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Miami, South Florida and Louisville, ESPN.com reports.

“Huell has great touch in and around the lane, especially along the baseline and when he moves to the open area on the side of dribble penetration. His release and follow-through is smooth and easy and Huell rebounds on both ends in addition to doing a great job running the floor,” writes ESPN’s Reggie Rankin.

• Udoka Azubuike, a 6-10 senior center from Potter’s House in Jacksonville, Florida, who is ranked No. 26 nationally, is considering KU, North Carolina, Florida, Florida State, Duke and others. He came to the U.S. from Nigeria 3 1/2 years ago.

“At 6-foot-10 and 280 pounds, Azubuike is an absolute load for opponents to defend in the low post. Nothing about his game is finesse. Azubuike is power, power, power,” writes Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com.

• Schnider Herard, a 6-10 senior center from Prestonwood Christian in Plano, Texas, who is ranked No. 41 nationally, lists KU, Oklahoma, Ok;ahoma State, Texas, Mississippi State, Purdue and others.

• Jarrett Allen, a 6-9 power forward from St. Stephens Episcopal School in Austin, Texas, who is ranked No. 17 nationally, lists KU, North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA, Indiana, Notre Dame, Texas, Baylor, SMU, TCU and others.

• Kassoum Yakwe, a 6-7 senior power forward from Our Savior New American in Centereach, New York, who is ranked No. 57 nationally, is considering KU, Oregon, St. John’s and others, according to Zagsblog.com. He’s a former high school teammate of KU freshman Cheick Diallo.

• Rawle Alkins, 6-4 senior shooting guard from Christ the King in Brooklyn who is ranked No. 15 nationally, is considering KU, Kentucky, Texas, Villanova, Indiana, Louisville, Cincinnati, N.C. State, St. John’s, Duke, North Carolina and more, Zagsblog.com indicates. He’s going to attend Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness this fall.

• Wenyen Gabriel, a 6-10 senior forward from Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Massachusetts who is ranked No. 84 nationally, tells ESPN.com he’s considering KU, Duke, UConn, Texas, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Villanova, Providence and others.

• Romello White, a 6-8 senior forward from Peachtree Ridge High in Suwanee, Georgia, who is ranked No. 116 nationally, tells ESPN.com he has heard from KU as well as Texas, Alabama, Memphis, Georgia, Georgia Tech, SMU, Marquette, Tennessee and many others. He decommitted from Tennessee before Rick Barnes was named coach.

• Payton Pritchard, a 6-1 senior point guard from West Linn (Oregon) High who is ranked No. 46 nationally and recently decommitted from Oklahoma, still is considering OU, plus KU, Louisville, Baylor, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona State, Oregon, Cal and others.

• Unranked Jeriah Horne, a 6-6 senior forward from former KU guard Billy Thomas’ KC Barstow program, is emerging as a major-college prospect. He tells Rivals.com he has seen coaches from Florida, Texas A&M, LSU and others at his games.

Cutting KU: Dennis Smith Jr., a 6-2 senior point guard from Trinity Christian in Fayetteville, North Carolina, has eliminated KU from his list of schools. The country’s No. 4-rated player lists North Carolina, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Duke, Kentucky and Louisville. … Kobi Simmons, a 6-5 senior combo guard from St. Francis School, Alpharetta, Georgia, who is ranked No. 8, now has a list of Kentucky, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio State and Xavier.

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