Volume 126 Issue 29
Thursday, October 10, 2013
kansan.com
THE UNIVERSITY JANLY GANSAN
COMMENTARY Self improves recruiting game
Bill Self began his career at Kansas hot on the recruiting trail, landing six 5-star recruits in his first three classes. Five of those players—Russell Robinson, Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Sherron Collins, and Darrell Arthur—formed the nucleus on the 2008 National Championship team, hammering home the point that coaching can get you to the brink, but talent takes you over the top.
Recruiting never fell off completely for Self, but he had been in a lull recently, signing classes that weren't up to previous Kansas standards, or at least up to the expectations Self had set for himself.
Despite this, Kansas continued to win because Self is a future hall-of-fame coach, and he didn't need a team full of high school All-Americans to win 30 games and contend for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He could roll out of bed and do that.
But maybe coaching a team full of over-achievers to the NCAA Championship game in 2012 flipped a switch for Self. The first player off the bench for that team was Conner Teahan, a former walk-on who had no business playing significant minutes on a Final Four team.
Since being overwhelmed by Kentucky in that game, Self has taken his recruiting talents to another level. He secured the nation's second best recruiting class last year before adding Andrew Wiggins, the No.1 overall recruit and one of the most heralded high school players in years, who will also don the newest cover of Sports Illustrated.
Self then hired Jerrance Howard to his staff in May, a young coach who is considered one of the best recruiters in the country.
On Tuesday, a month before Self's highly touted freshman class plays its first game, he began working his next masterpiece. Five-star shooting guard Kelly Oubre committed to the Jayhawks a few days after visiting Lawrence for "Late Night in the Phog." The 12th ranked player in the class of 2014 according to Rivals.com is the first player to commit to the Jayhawks for next season, but he won't be the last. And when the smoke clears, he could be the third best player to sign with Kansas.
Five-star recruits Myles Turner (sixth overall), Tyus Jones (fifth), Cliff Alexander (fourth), and Jahh Okafor (first), have visited or plan to visit Lawrence this month. Then there is Jaquan Lyle, another 5-star recruit (22nd overall) who decommitted from Louisville and told ESPN that Kansas might be the one school he couldn't turn down.
But Lyle doesn't have a scholarship offer from Self, who must think he is in good enough shape with the players mentioned above that he is turning down a 5-star recruit because he can do better.
Maybe Kelly Oubre was right. "KU is a family," he told Rivals. com on Tuesday, "And Bill Self is the Godfather."
Edited by Sarah Kramer
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