Two Class of 2023 big men eyeing Kansas basketball program

By Matt Tait     Aug 5, 2022

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Kansas University basketball recruiting

Dennis Evans, the No. 11-ranked prospect in the 2023 class per Rivals.com is planning to visit KU for Late Night in October.

His AAU coach Elvert “Kool-Aid” Perry recently told Shay Wildeboor of JayhawkSlant.com that Evans was planning to attend KU’s annual season kickoff event. He also noted that KU has offered a scholarship to the 7-foot-1, 210-pound center from Hillcrest High in Riverside, California, and that Evans is interested in the KU program.

KU assistant Kurtis Townsend has been the lead recruiter for Evans and, according to Perry, their relationship is a big part of the reason that Evans plans to visit Lawrence in a couple of months.

Perry told Wildeboor that KU, TCU, Minnesota, California Riverside, Missouri, Florida State, San Diego State, Texas, Oklahoma State and Georgetown have shown the most interest in Evans thus far and that KU, Minnesota and TCU were “probably the three main schools.”

The Jayhawks also recently made the cut for Class of 2023 prospect Jazz Gardner, who recently narrowed his list to a final eight.

The 7-foot, 225-pound center from West Ranch High in Santa Clarita, California, has a final eight of Kansas, Dayton, Missouri, Pepperdine, St. Mary’s, Texas Tech, UCSB and USC.

Townsend has been the lead recruiter for Gardner, whose father, Jelani Gardner, was recruited to Cal by Townsend back in the 1990s.

Gardner averaged 19 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks per game as a junior at Los Altos High while leading his team to a 26-7 record. He transferred to West Ranch High for his senior season to play with his brother, Jai Gardner, who will be a freshman this season.

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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.