Class of 2018 point guard Devon Dotson officially a Jayhawk

By Matt Tait     Nov 11, 2017

Gregory Payan/AP Photo
Team Clutch's Devon Dotson #0 in action against Team Drive in the Under Armour Elite 24 game on Saturday, August 20, 2016 in Brooklyn, NY.

The Kansas men’s basketball team officially has its point guard of the near future.

With Frank Mason III now playing in the NBA and Devonté Graham playing his final season as a Jayhawk, KU coach Bill Self knew he needed a lead guard to replace them and zeroed in on Devon Dotson, a five-star point guard from Charlotte, N.C.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Dotson orally committed to Kansas during a ceremony at his school on Oct. 13. On Saturday, he made that commitment official by signing his national letter of intent to join the Jayhawks.

“We recruited three or four lead guards in the country this past year, knowing all the perimeter players that we’ll be losing,” Self said in a press release. “We felt like Devon had the highest ceiling of the guys that we were recruiting.”

Ranked No. 17 in the 2018 class by Rivals.com, Dotson becomes the first official KU signee in a recruiting class that is ranked No. 2 in the nation by Rivals. Big men Silvio De Sousa, who is exploring the possibility of coming to KU early, and David McCormack also are expected to send their letters to KU before the end of the early signing period next Wednesday.

Photo courtesy of Kansas Athletics
Class of 2018 point guard Devon Dotson made his oral commitment to KU official on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, when he sent his national letter of intent to the KU basketball offices.

While he waits for those letters, Self elaborated on what he liked about Dotson.

“He’s an explosive athlete,” Self said. “He’s very unselfish. He can make plays for others, but he also has plenty of explosiveness that he can make plays for himself. And even though they are different type players, in some ways he will remind people of Frank because of his ability to get into the lane.”

Self called Dotson “one of the most explosive guards we’ve had since I have been here at Kansas” and credited assistant coach Norm Roberts for his role in Dotson’s recruitment.

As a junior, Dotson averaged 24.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game at Providence Day School for coach Brian Field.

As a sophomore, Dotson helped guide Providence Day to the 3A state championship and, this past summer, he averaged 19 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game for Team Charlotte AAU.

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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.