Kansas Basketball: Bill Self Learns From Past Mistakes

(Will Bill Self be celebrating a monster class in 2013?)

In a time when recruiting has become just another sports season for college fans, Bill Self has seen his team knocked out in the early rounds when it comes to getting some of the top talent to Lawrence in the past few years.   After a class that only included two in 2010, both no longer with the team, and a 2011 class that seemed to implode in the weeks leading up to the season, it seemed that Self had come to rest on his laurels of past classes and his 2008 National Championships in the eyes of his “off-season” fan base.  This was obviously not the case, but Self has even recently admitted that once the staff felt like they had a kid “wrapped up”, they would back off any back-up plan and fail to continue to court the sure thing.  What 17 year old do you know of that doesn’t constantly want to be told how great they are anyway?  With that in mind, and coming off of exactly that scenario with 7′-0 center Kaleb Tarczewski, Coach Self has seemed to double-down on his recruiting sales pitch of late.

Over the past three months, Self and company have scored commitments from 2 – 5 star recruits, Perry Ellis (2012) and Brannen Greene (2013), 4 – 4 star recruits, Landen Lucas, Andrew White, Anrio Adams (2012) and Conner Frankamp (2013), to go along with already signed 4 star PF Zach Peters of the 2012 class.  Add to that, 5 star Ben McLemore and 3 star Jamari Traylor that will become eligible next season, and the look of the Jayhawks drastically improve in pure talent over the next two years.

So you think Bill Self might take a break from recruiting with that run over the past month?  Think again.  Self has made it clear to some of the best players in the country that Kansas is still a premier destination for top recruits, and has even continued to press players in this 2012 class that were once thought not to be an option.  The staff recently reached out to 6′-9 C Tony Parker out of Georgia.  The once thought UCLA lock said recently that Kansas had begun recruiting him really hard over the past couple of weeks and that a visit could be in the fold in the near future.  JUCO guard, Geron Johnson is another name that recently took to the liking of Self’s staff, and 2013 stud Isaiah Lewis recently raved about the University and what it had to offer to any future blue-chip athlete.  Lewis, the 6′-3 pg out of New York, once rumored to be involved in a package deal with recently committed Brannen Greene and 2013 PF Chris Walker, stated that he just might commit to the Jayhawks this week when he turns 17 on December 26th.  Whether or not that becomes the second domino of the trio to fall remains to be seen, but what is clear right now is, Bill Self and the KU staff are hard at work on the future by learning the lessons of the past.