This year’s Late Night in the Phog was missing one of the things that has been pretty prominent at Late Nights in the past — high-profile recruits on official visits.
KU welcomed just a handful of unofficial visitors on Friday night for the season tipoff event — nearly all of them underclassmen — and had no official visitors in the building.
Four-star point guard Elmarko Jackson, who last Thursday night became the third player in the 2023 recruiting class to commit to KU, was in town to take in Late Night with his mother, Ellen.
But there were no undecided five-star big name players like in the past. And Kansas coach Bill Self said after the event that that was by design.
“The reason why we didn’t have (official visitors) here is because we’ve just basically got our guys committed,” Self said Friday. “We made a conscious effort this year to bring in the ones that we really wanted early and not wait for this because there’s no guarantee they’ll last.”
Self is not allowed to talk about specific prospects or their commitments until they officially sign with the Jayhawks. Jackson, along with four-star wing Chris Johnson and four-star shooting guard Jamari McDowell, are all expected to sign next month during the early signing period.
It remains to be seen how many more players KU will add in the 2023 class, but a lot of the answer likely has to do with what happens after the season with early departures or possible transfers.
The unknown around that merely added to the reason for KU not feeling like it needed to bring any official visitors to town for Late Night, and Self believes it will likely stay that way in future classes.
“I think that’s something we’ll probably do moving forward,” he said. “Even though Late Night’s great, Late Night may be a better deal for young kids than it is for veterans. If we move the date back like this, we’ll have unofficials in and no officials.”
According to Jacob Polacheck, of Zagsblog.com, the following underclassmen were expected to attend Late Night:
• 7-2 center John Bol of Sunrise Christian (Class of 2024, 5 stars)
• 5-10 guard Mikel Brown Jr. of Sunrise Christian (2025, 5 stars)
• 6-1 guard David Castillo of Bartlesville, Oklahoma (2024, 4 stars)
• 6-10 center Francis Chukwudebelu of Plan, Texas (2025, 5 stars)
• 7-foot center Thokbor David Athorbei of Nairobi (2025)
• 6-5 guard BJ Davis-Ray of Dallas (2025, 4 stars)
• 6-4 guard Nate Guerengomba of Link Academy (2025)
• 6-5 guard Chuck Love Jr. of Lincon, Nebraska (2025)
• 7-foot center JT Rock of Sioux Falls, South Dakota (2024, 4 stars)
• 6-foot guard Avian Webb of North Kansas City High (2025)
• 6-4 guard Carlsheon Young of Newcastle, Oklahoma (2025)