Kansas basketball coach Bill Self reflects on Jayhawks’ 2024 signees, looks ahead
LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball welcomed three prospects to its 2024 recruiting class earlier this month, when it announced the signings of Flory Bidunga, Rakease Passmore and Labaron Philon.
Philon is listed by KU as a 6-foot-4 and 177-pound guard. In the 247Sports Composite rankings, he’s a four-star point guard who’s ranked 36th overall in the nation and fourth at his position.
Passmore is listed by KU as a 6-foot-5 and 185-pound guard. In the 247Sports Composite rankings, he’s a four-star small forward who’s ranked 48th overall in the nation and 11th at his position.
Bidunga is listed by KU as a 6-foot-9 and 220-pound forward. In the 247Sports Composite rankings, he’s a five-star center who’s ranked sixth overall in the nation and first at his position.
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Here are a few takeaways Jayhawks coach Bill Self had when he spoke on the signings:
Bill Self has a high opinion of all three signees
Speaking generally, Self started off by saying recruiting rankings are overhyped and overrated. He said the bottom line is whether that person can come to your school, fit in and make your team better. And then he mentioned that he thinks they did a really nice job with their three signees.
Self said Philon could be as good as any guard in the country, even thought Self — who didn’t mention a specific recruiting ranking — noted that Philon isn’t rated that way. Self said Passmore is a prototypical 2-3 man who can be as good as former Kansas player Travis Releford defensively from day one, but a much better scorer. Self said Bidunga is as good of a lob-catcher as there is for the way they’re going to run ball screens and run to the rim.
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Bill Self’s praise of Flory Bidunga goes even farther
Asked if there’s anyone Bidunga reminded him of that he’s coached before, Self wasn’t able to pinpoint one exactly. Athletically, Self noted, he doesn’t know if they’ve had anyone like Bidunga. Self added Bidunga could be in a class by himself when it comes to who they’ve recruited at that position.
Bill Self wants to add to the recruiting class
The number of spots Kansas will have to work with in its 2024 recruiting class, including high school prospects and college transfers, is unclear. That depends on how many players decide to return, and how many elect to either leave for the professional ranks or another college. But Self made it clear that they are going to look to add to their class.
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball coach Bill Self reflects on Jayhawks’ 2024 signees
