KU Jayhawks freshman Ernest Udeh will enter transfer portal, Bill Self confirms

Kansas freshman men’s basketball forward Ernest Udeh, who averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds a game during the 2022-23 season, has elected to enter his name in the NCAA transfer portal, he indicated Thursday on Twitter.

KU coach Bill Self confirmed the news to The Star via text message Thursday morning.

Udeh — he wound up averaging 8.3 minutes a game in 30 games — wrote on Twitter, “I’m in God’s hands,” with a heart and prayer emoji. It was in response to a Twitter post by Andrew Slater that read: “Ernest Udeh, a McDonald’s AA has entered the transfer portal, per source. As a freshman, the Orlando native led Kansas in FG % (76%). Udeh will be one of the more sought after bigs.”

On Instagram, Udeh wrote: “It’s always love for Jayhawk nation. I’m in God’s hands now. Rock Chalk 4L.”

The deadline for non-graduates to enter the NCAA basketball transfer portal and still be eligible for the 2023-24 season is Thursday.

During the 2022-23 season, Udeh hit 34 of 45 shots for 75.6% but was just 9 of 22 from the line for 40.9%. The 6-foot-11 McDonald’s All-American from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida, finished with 20 steals, 18 blocks and 53 rebounds on the season

He scored a career high 10 points versus Seton Hall in December and had three blocks and a steal versus Kansas State in late January.

Udeh arrived at KU as the No. 23-rated player in the recruiting class of 2022 by ESPN.com.

Kansas has lost a pair of backup big men this week in direct response to last Thursday’s news that former Michigan standout Hunter Dickinson had chosen KU as his transfer destination over Kentucky, Maryland and Villanova.

“Yes sir, 100%,” Ejiofor’s mentor, Andy Philachack, told The Star after the 6-foot-9 Ejiofor entered his name in the portal Friday. Philachack was asked if the commitment of 7-foot-1 Michigan standout Dickinson led directly to Ejiofor’s decision to leave KU after one season.

“That is 32 minutes gone already. It’ll be eight minutes between Zuby and Ernest,” Philachack added at the time. “We did some math. We decided this was the best move for our son. Coach (Bill Self) backed us up. He always has our back.”

Ejiofor will visit Villanova Thursday through Saturday; St. John’s May 13-15, TCU on May 27 and San Diego State May 28-30. Kentucky is one of the more than 30 schools to express interest in Ejiofor.

Though it may have been possible to play two big men together at times, Self has acknowledged his preference of using four guards and one big or even five guards at a time. With two-time first-team All-Big Ten big man Dickinson on board, former McDonald’s All-American Udeh almost certainly would have been a back-up big to Dickinson.

Dickinson has two years of eligibility remaining if he chooses to use both seasons. He could head straight to the NBA after his one year in Lawrence and fourth year overall in college.

KU possibly could receive some good news on the wing on Friday. That’s when McDonald’s All-American Mackenzie Mgbako, a 6-8, 210 pound freshman-to-be forward who earlier was committed to Duke but recently asked out of his letter-of-intent, will announce for KU or Indiana. If he commits to KU, the Jayhawks would still have two scholarships to give and could re-enter the portal for one or two more players.

The Jayhawks have been trending as the pick of various recruiting analysts for Mgbako.

Currently there is no backup scholarship big man on the roster to enter when Dickinson needs a breather or is in foul trouble. Returning forward KJ Adams could fill that role, though he may also start next to Dickinson after playing out of position at center last year.

KU has had eight players enter the portal since season’s end. Five have already picked new schools. The five are: Bobby Pettiford (East Carolina), Cam Martin (Boise State), Zach Clemence (Santa Barbara), Joseph Yesufu (Washington State) and MJ Rice (North Carolina State). Udeh, Kyle Cuffe Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor have not announced a destination yet.

KU has added three players from the portal thus far. They are: Dickinson (Michigan), Nicolas Timberlake (Towson) and Arterio Morris (Texas).

The Jayhawks, who have three scholarships left to award in the recruiting class of 2023, have just two returning scholarship players from last year’s team. They are: KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris. KU also has signed freshmen Marcus Adams, Elmarko Jackson, Chris Johnson and Jamari McDowell.