Several high school prospects attend KU’s Late Night in the Phog on unofficial visits

Several high school basketball prospects were slated to attend Kansas’ Late Night in the Phog on unofficial recruiting visits.

Members of the junior class who told Rivals.com they were planning on attending Friday night’s show: John Bol, 7-2 center, Sunrise Christian Academy, Bel Aire, Kansas; David Castillo, 6-1 guard, Bartlesville (Oklahoma) High School; and JT Rock, 7-0 center, Lincoln Senior High, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

High school sophomores who were set to attend according to Rivals: Mikel Brown, 5-10, guard Sunrise Christian Academy; Francis Chukwudebelu, 6-10, center, Prestonwood Christian Academy, Plano, Texas; B.J. Davis-Ray, 6-5 guard, Lake Highlands High School, Dallas; Aaron Rowe, 6-0 guard, Link Year Academy, Branson, Missouri; and Carlsheon Young, 6-4 guard, Newcastle (Oklahoma) High School.

In the junior class, Castillo is ranked No. 22 by Rivals.com and Bol No. 31 while Rock is unranked. In the sophomore class, Davis-Ray is ranked No. 9 by Rivals.com; Brown No. 11; Chukwudebelu No. 14; Rowe No. 27 and Young unranked.

Zagsblog.com reported just before Late Night that Thokbor David Athorbei (7-foot sophomore, Dankind Academy, Nairobi), Nate Guerengomba (6-4 sophomore, Link Academy), Chuck Love (6-5 sophomore, Lincoln, Nebraska Southwest High) and Avian Webb (6-0 sophomore North Kansas City HS) also were expected to be in the stands on unofficial visits.

Elmarko Jackson, a 6-3 senior point guard from South Kent School in Connecticut, who verbally committed to KU on Thursday night, attended Late Night with his mom on an unofficial visit. Jackson is originally from Richland, New Jersey.

KU coach Bill Self was asked about all the unofficial visitors. None of the players in town were on official visits.

“The reason why we didn’t have officials here is because we just basically got our guys committed,” Self said.

KU has three committed players in the recruiting class of 2023. The Jayhawks are losing a minimum of two players in seniors Kevin McCullar and Cam Martin.

“We made a conscious effort this year to bring in the ones we really wanted early and not wait for this (Late Night), because there’s no guarantee they’ll last (before committing to another school in weeks prior to Late Night). “It’s something we’ll probably do moving forward,” Self said of bringing non-seniors to Late Night.

“Even though Late Night is great, Late Night may be a better deal for young kids than veteran kids. If we move the date back like this (Oct. 14 instead of late September) we’ll have unofficials in and no officials.”