Guard TyTy Washington cuts list to six, including KU: ‘Kansas has a great chance’
TyTy Washington, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound senior point guard from Compass Prep School in Chandler, Arizona, has narrowed his list of prospective colleges to Kansas, Baylor, Kentucky, Arizona, Oregon and LSU, he reported over the weekend on Twitter.
Washington, the No. 32-ranked men’s basketball player in the recruiting Class of 2021 according to Rivals.com, decommitted from Creighton on March 11 after committing to the Big East school on Nov. 15. On March 14 he indicated he’d been offered a scholarship by KU.
Washington at one time also considered Illinois, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas, Pitt and others. He averaged 24.0 points, 7.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game this past season for 27-1 Compass Prep.
“I think Kansas has a great chance. TyTy likes the culture, style of play, likes Coach (Bill) Self straight forward personal!” Washington’s dad, Tyrone, told The Star on Sunday in a direct message on Twitter. “We as a family love Kansas and everything about Kansas. Also we talk to Mitch Lightfoot’s father (Matt) who provides some great inside info of Kansas.”
Earlier, Washington’s dad told kentucky.rivals.com: ”I think quite naturally Ty feels he’s ready to play at the big-boy schools: Oregon, Kansas, Baylor, LSU, Arizona, and Kentucky are all big-boy schools. He’s shown all year that he is able to play there. I’m happy with the list.”
Tyrone Washington told Rivals.com the next step is to “check out the rosters. As you can tell in the past 48 hours some kids committed. Some kids transferred out. Arizona got a new coach. So pretty much check out the rosters, check out the coaching staffs and go from there, do our due diligence and find the best fit for him.”
The NCAA on Friday indicated prospects can resume making official campus visits on June 1 after more than a year of travel restrictions in response to the pandemic.
“If I was a betting man I would say we’re doing it (committing to a school) before that,” Tyrone Washington told Rivals.com. “I know some schools’ summer schools start June 6. With the Zooms and my family being able to fly for free if he wants to go on campus for a self-funded tour he is able to do that if that is something he chooses. So I think the decision will be made before that. June 1 is still 45 days away.”
TyTy Washington on Sunday night was asked about KU on a podcast hosted by ESPN’s Paul Biancardi.
“The very first time I talked to him (Self) we were on Zoom. He came out of nowhere. He was like, ‘You are TyTy Washington?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘So you’re the kid I’m giving the keys to to run my program next year, right?’
“I was shocked. I said, ‘That’s me coach.’ Ever since then we’ve been talking. Whenever he calls, before he hangs up he’s always like, ‘You know I want and need you bad over here, TyTy.’ He shows and expresses that he wants me over there.”
KU, which has signed seven players in the recruiting Class of 2021, still has one scholarship available in recruiting, more if Ochai Agbaji and/or Jalen Wilson remain in the 2021 NBA Draft.
KU has signed college transfers Cam Martin (Missouri Southern) and Joseph Yesufu (Drake), high school players Bobby Pettiford, Zach Clemence, KJ Adams and Kyle Cuffe and junior college transfer Sydney Curry.
Groves brothers pick OU
The Groves brothers, Tanner and Jacob, who combined for 58 points and 14 rebounds in Eastern Washington’s 93-84 loss to KU in a first-round NCAA Tournament game on March 20 in Indianapolis, have decided to transfer to Oklahoma, Tanner and Jacob reported Sunday on Twitter.
Tanner Groves, a 6-9 junior forward, who has two years of eligibility remaining, chose OU over Texas, Washington State and Portland. Jacob Groves, a 6-7 sophomore forward with three years of eligibility remaining, never revealed a list publicly after entering his name in the transfer portal. Tanner scored 35 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Jacob had 23 points and nine boards in the game versus KU.
Eastern Washington coach Shantay Legans left at season’s end to become head coach at Portland.
Oklahoma last week lost De’Vion Harmon, Alondes Williams and Brady Manek to the transfer portal. Manek has chosen North Carolina as his transfer destination. Zagsblog.com reports that Harmon has heard from coaches from Kentucky, Texas, Gonzaga, Oregon and Indiana. OU recently hired former Loyola coach Porter Moser as its replacement for Lon Kruger as head coach.
