K.J. Adams
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I have followed him as he has gone through high school and believe it’s a great get for our program. He was on live ABC local station to announce. Of course they were hoping for UT, but even in the paper today, there was a big article at the top of the front page of the sports section, with the headline: WESTLAKE STAR ADAMS MAKES HIS CHOICE: ‘KANSAS, BABY’ The announcement with over 50 friends and family gave out party favors of bottles of Jayhawk-decorated hand sanitizers.
Here’s the text of the article in case anyone wants to read his glowing praise of HCBS!!
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.
ROCK CHALK
**By Danny Davis
Posted Aug 1, 2020 at 3:58 PM
When it comes to college basketball, Westlake fans have a couple of schools in the Big 12 to root for.Three former Chaparrals — Brock Cunningham, Will Baker and Shay Holle — are now playing at Texas. Matthew Mayer is playing at Baylor.
But when asked this weekend about which Big 12 team the Chaparrals should pledge their allegiance to, rising senior KJ Adams presented a new option.
“Kansas, baby. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk,” Adams said with a smile.
Inside a basketball gym in South Austin, Adams announced his commitment to Kansas on Friday on live TV. He revealed his plans in front of 50 mask-wearing friends and family members. Bottles of Jayhawks-decorated hand sanitizer were given out as party favors.
Adams said he made up his mind more than a week ago and that Kansas coach Bill Self was the deciding factor. Adams said he had talked with around a dozen players who did and did not attend Kansas, and that he consistently received positive feedback about KU’s coach.
“With all this quarantine stuff, I didn’t have a chance to go out there,” Adams said. “I’m just blessed to know that no one has ever talked bad about him or said anything about him. That’s rare to see as a coach. You always get one player that says something bad about a coach.”
Adams, a four-star power forward, is the state’s sixth-best prospect for the 2021 recruiting cycle, according to 247Sports’ composite ratings. The 6-foot-7 big man was a unanimous selection to the Statesman’s All-Central Texas team this past winter. As a junior, he averaged 22.6 points and 6.7 rebounds.
What should Kansas fans expect out of him? Westlake coach Robert Lucero had a list of intangibles.
Athleticism? Check.
Defensive versatility? Check.
High basketball IQ? Check.
“Everybody wants to win, but to truly sacrifice for wins and then be happy at the end of the night regardless of how many points you put up, that’s kind of rare,” Lucero said. “I think that attitude will fit in well when he gets to college.”
With his commitment, Adams added another accomplishment to his family’s archive of athletic achievements. His father, Kevin, played football at New Mexico. His sister, Brittany, was an all-conference volleyball player at SMU. And Adams’ mother, the former Yvonne Hill, twice led Texas A&M women’s basketball team in scoring.
Like his mother and sister, Adams could have chosen an in-state school. Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor were among his suitors. Adams, though, has decided to forge his path outside of the state.
“It wasn’t really about location for me,” he said. “It was just about what I can do to be a better basketball player. Location is one thing and basketball is another thing.
“It doesn’t matter about my (comfort level) with the state or who’s there. I think whatever was the best place for basketball for me, wherever it is, I was going to go there.”**
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@RockChalkinTexas nice reporting! How’s the garden?
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Hey there!!! Burning up. Got no rain from Hurricane Hanna. It’s been over 100 for better than 30 days so far and this whole week it’s going to be over 100 with no rain in sight. We got a good crop of beans and cucumbers but they are not worth watering anymore. Mostly concentrating on keeping all my trees, palm trees and flower gardens from drying up. Have put off going anywhere and have only gone to grocery store 3 times since March 12th. It’s bad in the Austin area and so grateful I live where I can control who we come into contact with. We ran out of milk this weekend (for white russians!!! for me) and may need to go to the market in the closest city to me, about 12 miles away. It’s not a very crowded store but you sure do pay more than twice the price say at Walmart, but not having to deal with that outweighs the cost, IMO.
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You know, off topic, but after that last post I have to say this - we’ll be okay everyone. I wish all of my KU Bucketeers nothing but the best, and we will beat this fucker! This country and world has faced alot worse.
…I like the Adams and Clemence pickups, now we need to nab Hickman and Bates
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I’m happy with the Adams pickup, but have one other item of concern.
For an interior player with D1 size and athleticism, he averaged less than 7 rebounds per game. HS basketball affords plenty of rebound opportunities. I would hope he averages better than 9 rebounds a game this season at a minimum (10 to 12 would be ideal). Less means he’s either not working hard enough on the glass, or he is not a good rebounder. Each has its own issues.
If he isn’t working hard enough, that will only get worse in college because there are guys whose scholarships literally depend on grabbing every available rebound. If you aren’t as hungry as them, you won’t eat.
If he isn’t a good rebounder, again, that will get worse in college because that means he has either poor positioning or poor timing, both of which will hurt him when he can’t simply use his size and athleticism to grab a handful of boards each night.
I will be watching him closely this year to see where things go. He has talent, but, as his ranking suggests, there are some holes in his game as well.
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@justanotherfan Everything I’ve read indicates that he is a strong rebounder and gives good effort. Said to be extremely coachable and sacrifice personal accomplishments for wins. That said, the number is low as you mentioned so I would lean towards something besides effort. We will have to see how that progresses his SR year and then as he potentially gets PT at KU.
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Hard to say, but he hustles on the court and has size.
We don’t know how he was utilized in high school. Doubtful he was planted under the basket all the time. I see often he was on the perimeter to shoot or drive.
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@BShark 7 boards a game doesn’t seem too bad for a 6’6 guy, but he was probably one of the taller guys on the court.
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I’ve never seen a KU freshman show up to Kansas knowing how to rebound. Wait… I said NEVER… okay… thinking, thinking… I’ll keep to my original statement.
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@justanotherfan 9 is a lot under Self, especially a freshman. That’s not just being great that’s being in and rebounding for enough minutes to produce volume all season long.
Before these last two years, where Doke averaged 10+ and Dedric did the year before, we didn’t have a 10+ rebounder since Tom Rob’s senior year. I don’t think we had any 9+s either during that time
@drgnslayr JoJo was pretty great at 8.1 for a freshman.
I think in the 7s would be really great production for us for his size. I think it will be less but that doesn’t mean he can’t still be a great rebound in less minutes.
Wait did you mean per 40? Then disregard.
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Happy to have KJ aboard. Tools to work with and were able to close on him so quickly after the shocking loss of Brown. Not going to complain about any Top 100 kid coming here with the unknown future. I’m happy he decided KU was home for him and hopefully when he gets to campus he’ll develop into a nice 4 year guy for the program.
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@BeddieKU23 Yeah he mentioned deciding over a week ago. Sounds like a deal got worked out within a day or two of Brown picking Baylor which is pretty remarkable. Just add Hickman plus a 5 and call it a class.
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@BeddieKU23 And as @BShark said, add a couple more players and call it day. What I like about this class so far is how it’s coming together early, might have the entire class signed by November.
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@approxinfinity said in K.J. Adams:
@justanotherfan 9 is a lot under Self, especially a freshman. That’s not just being great that’s being in and rebounding for enough minutes to produce volume all season long.
When I say 9, I’m talking about in HS this year (assuming he gets a full season). A guy with D1 size and athleticism should be able to get 5 boards just getting off the bus.
Many top D1 PG prospects average 5 rebounds per game purely because of their athleticism (John Wall, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Lonzo Ball, etc.). That’s why for a wing guy to have just 7 a game sticks out to me.
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@drgnslayr said in K.J. Adams:
I’ve never seen a KU freshman show up to Kansas knowing how to rebound. Wait… I said NEVER… okay… thinking, thinking… I’ll keep to my original statement.
Thomas Robinson. Averaged almost 3 rebounds a game in just 7 minutes as a freshman. Averaged over 6 rebounds a game as a sophomore in just 14 minutes. TRob understood how to get position and pursue the basketball.
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At least 1 high level guard for sure and Hickman has been my #1 choice since we offered.
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@BeddieKU23 said in K.J. Adams:
At least 1 high level guard for sure and Hickman has been my #1 choice since we offered.
He’s a top 25 type guy, imo. I don’t care where he ends up in the rankings.
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@justanotherfan gotcha gotcha. Thanks.
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Hickman will announce for the Jayhawks within the next couple of weeks imo, and also maybe a big. Bates will hold off for a time, waiting to see what he is offered. Yes, call me Marcradamus. I hope
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@BShark said in K.J. Adams:
@BeddieKU23 said in K.J. Adams:
At least 1 high level guard for sure and Hickman has been my #1 choice since we offered.
He’s a top 25 type guy, imo. I don’t care where he ends up in the rankings.
Agree he might not be elite at any one thing but I watched a lot of his film and he’s exactly what we covet at the position. He would play early here. Imagine a combination of Harris, Hickman, Thompson & Braun in the backcourt in 21-22. Solid if you ask me
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@BeddieKU23 I would say that that would be a very solid rotation. I am liking the make-up of our team for not only this season (and I hope we have one, the nation needs a distraction) but also next year.
The NCAA crap will by then be resolved, and all things considered Coach and co. have done a great job in bringing in players. I am just saying, I am not so sure that Brown would have been a better fit than Adams. I think that Tyon will be around for a couple years, would Brown have been able to beat a senior Tyon and then after that Braun out? And let us not forget Enaruna and Wilson (though like some, I think that Wilson might transfer after this season and I wouldn’t blame him).
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Should be a solid core. You could theoretically have Sr’s: Agbaji, McCormack & Grant-Foster, Jr’s: Braun & Enaruna, 3rd year players Wilson & Harris & a second year of Thompson. That might be enough to make up for the lack of top end elite talent at any one position.
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@BeddieKU23 said in K.J. Adams:
Should be a solid core. You could theoretically have Sr’s: Agbaji, McCormack & Grant-Foster, Jr’s: Braun & Enaruna, 3rd year players Wilson & Harris & a second year of Thompson. That might be enough to make up for the lack of top end elite talent at any one position.
If Grant Foster stays healthy, look out for him as a senior. The level of improvement from HS to now is mind blowing. That type of trajectory is very rare.
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Does Grant Foster wear sunglasses backwards?
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@mayjay banned
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Sigh…finally…
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@justanotherfan said in K.J. Adams:
@drgnslayr said in K.J. Adams:
I’ve never seen a KU freshman show up to Kansas knowing how to rebound. Wait… I said NEVER… okay… thinking, thinking… I’ll keep to my original statement.
Thomas Robinson. Averaged almost 3 rebounds a game in just 7 minutes as a freshman. Averaged over 6 rebounds a game as a sophomore in just 14 minutes. TRob understood how to get position and pursue the basketball.
I’m going to accept being wrong here. TROB was solid on the boards in his freshman year… mostly because of his hustle. But he did show how position counted. He went on to become even better!
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Solid weekend. “Kansas pledge K.J. Adams was a monster on the drive. No defender dared to stop the superhero-built hybrid forward on his attack. His physicality, ability to move laterally, and play in the high post are all translatable strengths at his disposal.”
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@FarmerJayhawk I thought you said Lawson for a sec.
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KJ isn’t afraid to mix it up! Can’t wait!
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Bump. Heard from someone who watched workouts this week “KJ is a f****** freak show!”
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Yeah he’s gonna be a Bill favorite.
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This team will be about chemistry. If they work hard and build it, they should go far next March.
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@BShark yeah, seems like almost every year someone unexpected really meshes with the team and becomes an important piece. Would love to see KJ be that guy. Looking forward to seeing more play above the rim
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I think he has a chance to eat into Jalen’s minutes. Jalen obviously isn’t a great defender, and if he slumps on offense again I could see KJ getting some run at the 4, especially when Martin is on the floor to open up driving lanes. The big strength of Adams’s game right now is bullying smaller players on drives and using his strength to finish.
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@Oldmanhawk said in K.J. Adams:
@BShark yeah, seems like almost every year someone unexpected really meshes with the team and becomes an important piece. Would love to see KJ be that guy. Looking forward to seeing more play above the rim
Yeah I am not sure how much he plays this year but he really has the look of a guy that ends up playing more than the fan base expects. Jamari being a classic example.
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@FarmerJayhawk said in K.J. Adams:
Bump. Heard from someone who watched workouts this week “KJ is a f****** freak show!”
i THINK i LIKE THAT - - i LIKE THAT A LOT
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@jayballer67 I’ve expected him to play from the get go, never believed that either he or Clemence would redshirt. Not one player, unless Pettiford isn’t ready to go is going to take a redshirt. Wilson is coming back, but Ochai is gone.
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@Marco said in K.J. Adams:
@jayballer67 I’ve expected him to play from the get go, never believed that either he or Clemence would redshirt. Not one player, unless Pettiford isn’t ready to go is going to take a redshirt. Wilson is coming back, but Ochai is gone.
i AGREE ABOUT HIM BEING GONE.
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@drgnslayr Nice , only thing is -he gonna meet ALOT stronger resistance when he tries driving to the hole then what we see on here. He gonna be allright
