Former Schlagle High, KU Jayhawks guard Tyon Grant-Foster headed to Grand Canyon

Former Kansas and DePaul shooting guard/small forward Tyon Grant-Foster, who recently entered the NCAA transfer portal with two years of collegiate eligibility remaining, has decided to continue his basketball career at Grand Canyon University, Grant-Foster revealed Sunday on Twitter.

“God is the greatest,” Grant-Foster wrote in a Twitter post in which he wore a GCU uniform.

Grant-Foster, 6-foot-7, 205 out of Schlagle High School in Kansas City, had a medical issue that prevented him from playing at DePaul the past two seasons. Recently Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports wrote that Grant-Foster had been medically cleared to resume playing basketball. Rothstein and verbalcommits.com reported the news of Grant-Foster choosing Grand Canyon on Sunday night.

An honorable mention NJCAA All-American at Indian Hills Community College, Grant-Foster played in 22 games with the Jayhawks during the 2020-21 season. He averaged 3.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 8.2 minutes per contest. He played 14 or more minutes in five games for the Jayhawks. Grant-Foster scored seven points and secured two rebounds in KU’s second-round loss to USC in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Grant-Foster after transferring from KU to DePaul, played in just one game for the Blue Demons in 2021-22. He missed the 2022-23 season because of an undisclosed medical condition.

Primo Spears to visit Kansas

Former Georgetown combo guard Amir “Primo” Spears Jr., a 6-3, 185-pound sophomore who entered the transfer portal on March 15 while also putting his name in the 2023 NBA Draft, will make a recruiting visit to KU on April 25, according to 24/7 High School Hoops.

Spears — he averaged 16.0 points, 5.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds for the (7-25) Hoyas this past season — will visit TCU this week. He’s also considering Arkansas, Florida State and Mississippi State. Earlier he had Gonzaga, Xavier and Villanova on his list.

A native of Hartford, Connecticut, Spears last season hit 194 of 475 shots for 40.8%. He cashed 27 of 90 threes for 30%. Spears played his freshman season at Duquesne, averaging 12.7 points and 3.0 assists a game.

“He is blessed with unbelievable talent that even people at Georgetown haven’t fully seen,” his former high school coach at Windsor, Ken Smith, told ctinsider.com. “His knowledge of the game is that of NBA superstars. That is the level where his mind is at. All you have to do is let him go and watch and see what he does, and you’ll be amazed.”

Of KU, Spears told 247sports.com: “They have a lot of people leaving and coach (Bill) Self expressed to me that they want me in the backcourt. I know they want me to come and bring my winning mentality.”

Spears scored a career-high 37 points on 15-of-31 shooting and dished 11 assists in Georgetown’s loss to Xavier last season.

“He went to the transfer portal because Coach Patrick (Ewing) got released,” his father, Amir “Primo” Spears Sr., told ctinsider.com. “It is a different time. Back in my day you would commit to a college. These days kids commit to the coach. He played for the same AAU program from the fifth grade to 12th grade. He is not built to jump around, but you just have to go with the new times. At the same time, it is a great situation to be in free agency.”

As far as testing the draft waters, Spears’ dad said: “The NBA part of the announcement is just to get some feedback on what he needs to work on. The NBA is definitely his ultimate goal, but he understands he is not on any mock drafts right now. He ultimately is going back to college.”

His high school coach added to ctinsider.com: “As far as players, he is one of the best point guards I have ever coached, probably the smartest one. Everybody needs a guy like him because he makes every coach better. His game is also tailored to the NBA game. He was the best I have ever seen in the pick and roll, and that is the NBA’s game. He is a great ballhandler, he has that it factor where he wants to be great at what he does.”

Nick Timberlake to decide soon

Former Towson guard Nick Timberlake apparently is close to announcing his college choice after a weekend visit to UConn.

“Decision week,” Timberlake wrote on Twitter on Sunday night.

Timberlake, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior combo guard, who entered the NCAA transfer portal on March 9, averaged 17.7 points (on 45.5% shooting), 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game last season.

He has visited KU, UConn and North Carolina since entering the portal. Those three schools are believed to be his finalists. He told recruiting writer Jake Shindel on Sunday he had completed his campus visits.

Known for his three-point shooting, the first-team all-CAA selection hit 92 of 221 threes in 2022-23 for 41.6%. He hit 49.5% of his two-point tries. He made 84.5% of his free throws and had 79 assists to 78 turnovers. Timberlake averaged 35.7 minutes a game in 33 games. Towson went 21-12 a year ago.

The Braintree, Massachusetts native scored 34 points versus College of Charleston, 32 against Hofstra. 31 versus Hampton and 29 against Delaware.

He also heard from coaches from Indiana, St. John’s, LSU, Ohio State, UCLA, Xavier, Auburn, Boston College, Clemson, Iowa State, Maryland, Memphis and West Virginia.

Castillo favoring K-State as decision day nears?

David Castillo, a 6-1 junior point guard at Bartlesville (Oklahoma) High School, who is ranked No. 12 in the recruiting Class of 2024 by ESPN.com, will announce his college choice at 3 p.m., Tuesday, at his high school, Castillo has announced on Twitter.

Castillo has made official visits to KU, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. He’s also been recruited by Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, LSU and others. He’s made unofficial visits to several schools.

Eric Bossi of 247sports.com believes Kansas State is the favorite to land Castillo on Tuesday.

“One of the most skilled backcourt players in 2024, Castillo is coming off of a strong performance at USA Basketball’s Final Four minicamp where he played freely, knocked down one pull-up jumper after another and showed improved ability to handle pressure when he’s playing the role of a primary ballhandler,” Bossi wrote on Saturday.

“With his decision date set, Castillo is seeing a team start to trend in the Crystal Ball. Kansas State picked up two early Saturday picks from Michael Swain and Ryan Gilbert of Phog.net and GoPowercat.com and now I’m going to go ahead and follow suit and put a pick in for (Jerome) Tang and the Wildcats as well. Will there be any last minute changes? We’ll see, but with three days to go until his announcement, Castillo looks to be trending towards Kansas State,” Bossi added.

Hunter Dickinson visits Maryland

Former Michigan big man Hunter Dickinson, who is slated to visit KU on Thursday, made a recruiting visit to Maryland Sunday, according to 247sports.com.

Dickinson, 7-1, 260 from Alexandria, Virginia, who has two years of eligibility remaining after entering the portal, also has visited Georgetown. Some have speculated Maryland is the leader because his former high school coach, Mike Jones, recently joined the Maryland staff.