KU newcomer Nick Timberlake buries winning three-pointer in Bill Self campers game

Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self, in introducing the participants for Wednesday’s KU intrasquad game to 900 campers seated in Allen Fieldhouse, offered a preview of what was to come in praising three-point threat Nick Timberlake.

“A fifth-year senior from Towson in Baltimore, Maryland … I think he’s the best shooter on our team. He or ‘Jank’ would be for sure,” Self said of injured senior walk-on guard Michael Jankovich and Timberlake, a 6-foot-4, 24-year-old transfer with one year of NCAA eligibility remaining.

A first-team all-Colonial Athletic Association selection from Braintree, Massachusetts who averaged 17.7 points a game on 41.6% three-point shooting for (21-12) Towson a year ago, Timberlake drilled back-to-back threes to lift the Blue team to a 62-59 come-from-behind victory over the Red squad in a first-to-reach 60 points scrimmage.

Overall Timberlake connected on three three-pointers and scored 11 points for the winning team. Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams led the way with 19 and 16 points, respectively, for a Blue team that included point guard deluxe Dajuan Harris.

The Red squad, made up primarily of KU freshmen and senior Kevin McCullar (seven points) as well as former KU wing Brandon Rush, was paced by freshmen Jamari McDowell, Marcus Adams and Elmarko Jackson, who had 13, 12 and 12 points, respectively.

“I didn’t see him (Timberlake) shoot today,” said Self, who headed back to his office after introductions right before the intrasquad began. “But in the practices we’ve had (since summer school started on June 6) I’d say (TImberlake’s shooting) is a welcome sight. I do think he can make baskets.”

Timberlake hit 92 threes in 221 attempts during his final season at Towson. A pair of threes down the stretch were timely Wednesday as he helped the Blue team overcome a 59-51 deficit. He made one three to tie the scrimmage at 59 and another to win it 62-59.

“That’s what we’re going to need him to do,” senior Red team guard McCullar said of Timberlake sinking outside shots during the 2023-24 season. “I practiced with him yesterday for the first time. I was telling him, ‘Every time you are open, let it go man.’ That’s what he came here to do and what we are going to need him to do.”

During the Blue team’s late-game comeback, junior forward KJ Adams had a fierce rejection of a driving layup try by freshman guard Jackson to prevent the Reds from scoring a game-winning 60th point.

“I got nervous a little bit (when Jackson tumbled to ground). We’re going to need both of them,” McCullar said of KJ Adams and Jackson in the rotation. “When he went up and blocked it, that’s what KJ does. He makes winning plays for sure.”

McCullar, one of KU’s team leaders, used the foiled layup as a teachable moment for Jackson, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound combo guard from Marlton, New Jersey, who has shown a great ability to drive baseline and rip home slam dunks.

“I told him (Jackson) after that … I said, ‘You better go off two feet,” McCullar said. “In the Big 12 there are going to be guys like KJ coming in (to block shot). Try to play off two feet and stay solid.”

In introducing Jackson to the campers before the game, Self said the McDonald’s All-American was “arguably the best freshman athlete in the country, a guard who can play anywhere.”

Asked by the media to comment on Jackson’s game after the scrimmage, Self said: “Obviously Elmarko … if you just look at him, he is a talented kid. He’s strong. He’s got game. He can always shoot better, but it’ll be hard to keep him off the floor.”

Self was not surprised to hear senior guard Harris’ Blue team turned up the defensive pressure late to win the scrimmage in come from behind fashion. Former Jayhawk Brandon Rush missed a three from the corner that could have put Red past the coveted 60 mark. That miss preceded Timberlake’s game-ending swish from the side.

“Juan’s team usually does win,” Self said.

Self also was not at all shocked to hear Harris found 7-footer Dickinson for several inside buckets.

“I am excited about it,’ Self said of elite distributor Harris and natural scorer Dickinson in the same starting lineup in 2023-24. “I tell you the one who should be most excited about it is Hunter because Juan will get him some easy baskets.

“Whatever happened today I guarantee doesn’t fit the way we’ll play, but Hunter can really score the ball. He’s an above average shooter from (beyond) the arc. Where he’ll benefit the most is Juan being able to deliver the ball to him off pick and rolls and things like that.”

Self said Dickinson has made a “seamless and easy adjustment and transition to the (KU) program.”

“But he is not used to playing the way we’ll play,” Self said. “The activity level is probably going to be a little different than he has been accustomed to because when you are designed to be the center point of everything and slowing down to make sure he gets a touch … we will make sure he gets a touch as long as he can play at the pace we want him to play at. He has some things he has to work on. But gosh he can score.”

Several Jayhawks did not participate in Wednesday’s scrimmage.

• Arterio Morris, a sophomore transfer guard from University of Texas, returned to his home state of Texas Wednesday “to take care of some stuff today,” Self said, noting Morris was to be back in Lawrence on Thursday.

Morris had a court date Wednesday involving his ongoing case in which he faces a misdemeanor assault charge. His date for a trial has been moved to Aug. 2 according to the Associated Press.

The Denton County district attorney office and Morris’ attorney did not respond to The Star’s requests for comment Wednesday. Morris, according to the AP and the Austin American Statesman, was arrested on a Class A misdemeanor assault charge in June 2022.

• Michael Jankovich, a senior walk-on guard, is out four to six weeks with a knee injury sustained during a practice Tuesday. Self said it is believed that surgery is not necessary.

• Justin Cross, a junior walk-on guard out of John A. Logan College in Illinois, is one month removed from knee surgery and two months away from returning to contact drills, Self said.

• Charlie McCarthy, a junior walk-on guard who suffered a concussion last season, also did not participate in the scrimmage.

• Walkons Parker Braun (senior forward) and Christopher Carter (freshman guard) are not on campus yet for summer school.

Blue team 62, Red team 59

BLUE (62)

Hunter Dickinson 19 points, KJ Adams 16, Wilder Evers 12, Nick Timberlake 11, Dajuan Harris 2, Tyshawn Taylor 2

RED (59)

Jamari McDowell 13 points, Elmarko Jackson 12, Marcus Adams 12, Patrick Cassidy 9, Kevin McCullar 7, Brandon Rush 4, Dillon Wilhite 2.

x-first team to 60 wins.