KU attracts Brooklyn star
Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., is to high school basketball what Odessa Permian High School, in Texas, is to high school football.
Basketball rules there. Stephon Marbury starred there. Marv Albert went there. Even Jesus Shuttlesworth, the fictional baller played by Ray Allen in "He's Got Game" went there.
Kansas coach Bill Self may be spending a bit of time there in the next year, too. Lance Stephenson, a 6-5, 195-pound junior guard from Lincoln who is the No. 4 overall player in the class of 2009 recently contacted Self about his interest in Kansas.
Stephenson will be in Lawrence on Nov. 25 when KU plays Arizona at Allen Fieldhouse. Stephenson also plans to visit North Carolina, Seton Hall, Indiana, Georgetown and USC.
"We just recently decided to reach out to some programs, and Kansas was one of those programs," Stephenson's father, Lance Sr., said. "We view Kansas as one of the top programs in America. There were some people that thought Lance had already picked a school, which isn't true. There were some people that assumed Lance wasn't recruitable for whatever reason, but that's not the case."
The 2009 class could be a big one for Kansas, especially if the Jayhawks don't fill all the available scholarships for 2008, between five and seven, most likely.
KU is in consideration for seven of the top 15 players in the class of 2009.
The headliners would be Stephenson, plus the No. 2 overall player in the class, Oklahoma City guard Xavier Henry, a 6-6, 210-pound lefty who has made it known he will choose the school that most expediently will get him into the NBA. Xavier Henry's list is down to Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina, Texas, Memphis and Ohio State. No. 3 Derrick Favors, a 6-9, 220-pound forward from Atlanta, also lists Kansas among five other schools.
But KU also is in the running for 6-7 point forward Jordan Hamilton (No. 8), 6-3 guard John Wall, 6-9 forward Daniel Orton (No. 11) and 6-10 center DaShonte Riley (No. 13).
Between now and 2009, the Jayhawks are sure to lose eight players off the current roster, not including sophomores Darell Arthur and Sherron Collins, both potential NBA defections.
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