Tracking the movement of a few KU basketball targets in updated Rivals rankings

By Matt Tait     Sep 11, 2018

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Kansas University basketball recruiting

The rest of the updated Rivals150 2019 basketball class was released Tuesday, one day after Rivals teased the new list by announcing the updated Top 10.

Although Kansas currently is without a commitment in the 2019 class, there are plenty of noteworthy names dotting the Top 150 who have expressed interest in joining the Jayhawks and may some day suit up in crimson in blue.

Two of them — Matthew Hurt and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl — dropped a spot [but held on to their status as Top 10 talents][1] and the rest found out their fate on Tuesday, when the full list was released.

Here’s a quick look at the movement involving a few key recruiting targets:

• [Small forward Samuell Williamson, a 6-foot-7 prospect from Rockwall, Texas,][2] with the elite mid-range game, jumped one spot to No. 34. Williamson, you might recall, recently made an official visit to KU and continues to check in with the other programs on his list of finalists as he races toward a decision. Most analysts feel that KU has a great shot at landing Williamson, but there clearly is still work to be done.

[• Cassius Stanley, a 6-foot-5, 4-star shooting guard from North Hollywood, Calif.,][3] jumped two spots to the cusp of the Top 30 and sits at No. 31 on the updated list. Stanley is known as an incredibly versatile guard who is capable of playing — and defending — all three guard positions. He recently told Corey Evans, of Rivals.com, that USC, UCLA, Oregon, Texas, KU and South Carolina have been the schools that have stood out most during the recruiting process. According to Evans, Stanley has hopes of making a commitment this fall.

• [Four-star power forward Zeke Nnaji][4] dropped three spots to No. 37 but still remains a highly visible recruit because of his AAU connection with Hurt and his size, length and potential.

• [Chandler Lawson, one of two younger brothers of current Jayhawks Dedric and K.J. Lawson,][5] basically stayed in the same spot, falling just a bit from No. 87 to No. 88.

• And [former KU commitment Markese Jacobs, of Chicago,][6] dropped a whopping 33 spots to No. 125 after decommiting from KU and opening up his recruitment.

• As for a couple of notable names on the rise, Little Rock, Ark., point guard Isaac McBride maintained his ranking of No. 110 but is now listed as a four-star prospect. [And local prospect Christian Braun, who picked up a KU offer in the past couple of weeks and plays his high school ball at nearby Blue Valley Northwest,][7] went from unranked to No. 113 and also saw his status jump from 3-star prospect to 4-star prospect.

In related news, after checking in with Hurt on Sunday in Minnesota and Robinson-Earl on Monday in Florida, KU coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend were in Memphis on Tuesday to visit with [No. 2-rated 2019 prospect James Wiseman,][8] a 7-foot center who has attracted major attention from some serious blueblood programs.

Shortly after the in-home visit, Wiseman Tweeted out a photo with Self and Townsend in his living room, with the words “Great In-Home Kansas Visit Today!” attached to it.

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2018/sep/10/2019-prospects-matt-hurt-jeremiah-robins/
[2]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2018/aug/30/class-of-2019-sf-samuell-williamson-read/
[3]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/ku-recruiting-scoop/2018/sep/12/kansas-will-see-2019-sg-on-wednesday/
[4]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2018/sep/7/big-weekend-awaits-class-of-2019-big-man/
[5]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/ku-recruiting-scoop/2018/aug/22/2019-f-to-visit-kansas/
[6]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2018/aug/24/class-of-2019-point-guard-and-ku-commitm/
[7]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/ku-recruiting-scoop/2018/aug/30/2019-local-sg-picks-up-kansas-offer/
[8]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/ku-recruiting-scoop/2018/sep/11/kansas-staff-to-see-nations-1-player-on-/

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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.