Top-ranked 2017 hoops prospect DeAndre Ayton set to announce decision at 5 p.m.

By Matt Tait     Sep 6, 2016
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DeAndre Ayton, the No. 1-ranked player in the 2017 high school basketball recruiting class, announced on Twitter Tuesday afternoon that he will be revealing the identity of his future school on ESPN’s SportsCenter at 5 p.m.

Ayton, a 7-foot, 250-pound center from Phoenix’s Hillcrest Academy will choose between Kansas, Kentucky and Arizona.

If the Jayhawks land Ayton, it will give KU coach Bill Self and his staff the nation’s No.-1-ranked player in three of the past five recruiting classes — Andrew Wiggins (2013), Josh Jackson (2016) and Ayton (2017).

Many recruiting analysts believe Kansas is and has been the leader for Ayton’s services all along because Self and his staff were the first ones to go all-in on Ayton during the recruiting process and also because they stuck with him when almost nobody else was on him.

The reasons for the lack of interest in a player that many believe could have a monster impact during the 2017-18 season was (a) eligibility concerns due to his moving around to several different high schools and (b) the fact that many believe he had no plans or desire to attend college.

Ayton cleared that up earlier this year when he claimed in interviews that he had no eligibility concerns and that his mother wanted him to go to school so that’s what he was going to do.

“They think I’m not going to college, but I have to go to college. My mom wants me to go to college and that’s what I’m looking for,” Ayton told reporters this summer.

Ayton, in a July interview with FloHoops, added: “Kansas has been there since ninth grade. They show me a lot of love, sending me letters and stuff like that. They have been coming to every game since I was in ninth grade, and that’s big, man. I want to see the full experience at Kansas. I saw their weight room and stuff like that, but I want to see the whole campus.”

Stay tuned to KUsports.com for updates and reaction to Ayton’s decision.

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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.