Kansas signee Labaron Philon, No. 30-ranked recruit, asks out of Letter of Intent
Labaron Philon, a 6-foot-4, 175-pound senior point guard from Link Academy in Branson, Missouri, who signed a men’s basketball National Letter of Intent with Kansas on Nov. 8, has asked to be released from his letter and will reopen his recruitment, a source close to the situation confirmed to The Star on Tuesday night.
Philon — a native of Mobile, Alabama, who initially chose KU over Cincinnati, Alabama and Mississippi — is ranked No. 30 in the recruiting class of 2024 by ESPN.com, No. 32 by 247Sports.com and No. 37 by Rivals.com.
He committed to Auburn on Feb. 3, 2023, then reopened his recruitment on April 21, 2023. He committed to KU on Sept. 25, 2023.
Several recruiting services reported Philon reopening his recruitment Tuesday night, including 247Sports and Rivals.
Philon averaged 35.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.6 steals a game as a junior at Baker High in Mobile. He hit 52% of his shots, including 34% of his 3s and 82% of his free throws. He had 51 points in one game. His full senior-year statistics are not available.
As a senior at Link, Philon averaged 14.0 points while playing in two games at the season-ending Chipotle Nationals in Brownsburg, Indiana. Philon scored a team-leading 24 points with four assists and four rebounds in a 80-76 double overtime victory over Prolific Prep in the event quarterfinals. Philon hit five 3-pointers in the game.
Philon scored four points, grabbed four rebounds and delivered three assists in Link’s 58-44 loss to Paul VI of Virginia in the national semifinals.
Link Academy finished the 2023-24 season with a 26-7 record overall, 1-1 at nationals.
“Labaron Philon has made a case for being the top point guard in the 2024 class with Link Academy this season. On the EYBL Scholastic League, Philon averaged 11.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 4.3 APG and 2.3 SPG while shooting 53.6% from the field (44.1% from three),” wrote Travis Branham of 247Sports.com Tuesday night.
“He plays with a confident pace. He has good size with nice length and an ability to score the basketball in a number of ways,” wrote Jamie Shaw of On3.com. “Philon is a big-time high school scorer. While not an elite athlete, he uses his pace, along with an assortment of hesitation dribbles, to get into the paint and finish. The lack of top-end burst can hurt him at the rim, but he can be crafty there. He understands angles and has good footwork while preferring a pull-up or floater once he is in and around the paint.
“Philon is a serviceable shooter. The form looks good, and the release is consistent. He will need to continue working on the balance aspect of his shooting and finding his comfortable spots on the floor. Philon is a smart and competitive defender. He is not afraid to mix it up and is able to use his footwork and angles to make up for his footspeed guarding the ball. Philon has good length and a natural anticipation as a team defender.”
With the addition of portal transfers AJ Storr (Wisconsin), Riley Kugel (Florida) and Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State), as well as incoming freshmen Flory Bidunga and Rakease Passmore, Kansas currently has 12 scholarship players on the 2024-25 roster. Teams are allowed 13 scholarship players in accordance with NCAA rules. KU has to have one under the limit either this year or 2025-26 to complete self-imposed NCAA sanctions.
The players who are listed as returnees at this time are: KJ Adams, Zach Clemence, Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris, Johnny Furphy, Jamari McDowell and Elmarko Jackson.
Furphy has declared for the 2024 NBA Draft with the option of returning to school. Former Alabama wing Rylan Griffin, who made a campus visit to KU last weekend, is expected to announce his college choice this week. Another weekend visitor was the No. 1-rated point guard in the class of 2025, Darius Acuff.
