According to multiple reports and a post on his Instagram page, Syracuse big man Jesse Edwards has trimmed his list of transfer options to Kansas, Gonzaga and West Virginia.
A 6-foot-11 center originally from the Netherlands, Edwards averaged 14.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game at Syracuse last season.
He is currently ranked as the No. 13 player available in On3.com’s transfer portal rankings, and he is expected to visit West Virginia this weekend.
A third-team all-ACC selection this year, Edwards played four seasons at Syracuse, averaging double-digit points in each of the past two seasons, while finishing seventh nationally in blocks per game in 2022-23.
The long, athletic big man from Amsterdam recorded four or more blocks in a game 13 times this season while also recording four or more fouls 13 times, including five games in which he fouled out.
Edwards has one season of eligibility remaining. He also received interest during his first few days in the transfer portal this week from Kansas State, LSU and Michigan.
Speaking of Michigan, fellow-KU targets Hunter Dickinson (Michigan) and Harrison Ingram (Stanford) rank first and third in the On3 portal rankings, and Dickinson is the top-ranked player in most every portal ranking system out there.
According to Shay Wildeboor of JayhawkSlant.com, Dickinson likely will visit Kansas sometime next week. Exact dates are not yet known, but it appears as if it will be Thursday through Saturday of next week.
A 7-foot-1 center with good offensive skills and a physical presence in the paint and on the glass, Dickinson is one of the most highly-sought-after players in the history of the transfer portal, which has been around since 2018.
His addition to any roster would immediately upgrade his chosen team’s offensive ceiling. And, at Kansas, Dickinson’s ability to score in the post to his right or his left and fit in the pick-and-roll game could make him a monster offensive player in contention to average a double-double for an entire season.
Multiple reports have indicated that Dickinson, who hails from Alexandria, Virginia, also will visit Georgetown and Maryland — both close to his hometown — while weighing his options.
Bill Self and his coaching staff, who have at least three openings on the 2023-24 roster, continue to mine the portal for talent in a patient and deliberate manner, seeking to identify the exact right fits for what next year’s roster will need rather than adding a player early just to add one.
So far, Towson guard Nicolas Timberlake is the lone player in the portal to take a recent visit to KU. Given his size, shooting prowess and scoring ability, Timberlake would certainly fit what the Jayhawks need as they look to replace the scoring and long-range shooting of Jalen Wilson, Gradey Dick and Kevin McCullar Jr. from the 2022-23 roster and fill the spots opened up by Zach Clemence, Joe Yesufu, Bobby Pettiford (East Carolina), MJ Rice and Cam Martin (Boise State) entering the portal themselves.
To date, 16 of the top 30 and 20 of the top 40 players ranked in the 247 Sports transfer portal rankings have picked new schools.
