-- As most of you already know, this is a big weekend for Bill Self and Kansas. Three five-star prospects, Jalil Bethea, Liam McNeeley, and Derik Queen, are scheduled to officially visit this weekend.
In fact, Bethea, the 6-foot-4, 175-pound point guard from Archbishop Wood Catholic in Warminster, Pa., arrived for his official visit to Kansas on Thursday. Obviously, Bethea, the No. 17 ranked player in the 2024 class, has a ton of schools involved in his recruitment. He’s already visited a number of schools, including Penn State, Rutgers, Syracuse, and Temple.
There was a time when it looked like Kansas had some work to do to make up some ground with the No. 2 ranked point guard in the class, but with his visit to Kansas underway, I firmly believe that Kansas is in an outstanding position to land the elite guard.
I’m of the opinion that Cooper Flagg is probably at the top of the priority list for Kansas at this time, but you can put Bethea right up there in terms of who the staff wants in the 2024 class. Bill Self and his staff have a golden opportunity to close the deal with Bethea this weekend.
I’m not saying that is going to happen, but they’ve got the opportunity.
-- As most of you know, Kansas has been recruiting Derik Queen, the 6-foot-10, 245-pound center from Montverde (FL) Academy for a long time. Queen, the No. 21 ranked player in the class, is no stranger to Kansas, but now he’s going to spend the weekend in Lawrence to get a better feel for what the program is all about.
Here’s the deal with Queen, the No. 3 ranked center in the class. Flory Bidunga, the No. 5 ranked player in the class, has already committed to Kansas. Hunter Dickinson is currently on KU’s campus and has two years of eligibility remaining.
At this point, I’ve really got no idea what to expect when it comes to Dickinson. I think there’s a real possibility that he could return, which would give the Jayhawks two really talented big men next year.
Still, with that being said, there’s no doubt in my mind that Kansas is a major player for Queen. The thing is, Maryland is viewed as the team to beat and Indiana is also getting some play. I think the coaching staff will spend a lot of time this weekend selling Queen on the program and where they see him fitting in next year, should he decide to pick Kansas.
-- At this point, I would say that Liam McNeeley, the 6-foot-8, 210-pound small forward from Montverde (FL) Academy is the player that I feel least likely about heading into the weekend. Indiana is viewed as the team to beat here, and I firmly believe that to be the case. McNeeley, the No. 9 ranked player in the class, has already visited Indiana at least three times and will trip to Texas later on in the month.
Yesterday, McNeeley told me that he really wants to focus on continuing to build a relationship with the coaching staff and learn more about the program. He’ll have every opportunity to do that this weekend.
Tonight could very well be a big night for the Kansas staff, in terms of getting the visit weekend kicked off with a bang. There’s a ton of energy in Lawrence right now with the football team set to open the season.
I don’t think the outcome will have any bearing on the decision that each prospect makes, but you win the opening game of the season tonight, the scene inside the stadium carries over to the night and weekend.
