Top 50-ranked high school guard/forward Rakease Passmore chooses KU over LSU, Oklahoma
Rakease Passmore, a 6-foot-5, 180-pound senior guard/small forward from Combine Academy in Lincolnton, North Carolina, on Wednesday verbally committed to play basketball at the University of Kansas.
Passmore, who is ranked No. 48 in the recruiting class of 2024 by 247sports.com, No. 49 by Rivals.com and No. 52 by ESPN.com, made the announcement Wednesday night on the 247sports.com Youtube channel.
He chose KU over Oklahoma and LSU. Earlier, he also had Arkansas, Oregon, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, USC, Virginia, Iowa, Creighton, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Houston, North Carolina State and Clemson on his list of possible destinations.
“Their winning culture ... they win a lot. I like to win,” Passmore said of KU. “Bill Self is one of the greatest coaches in college. I think I fit in.”
Of his recruitment, Passmore said: “It was a long journey for sure. It was fun getting the offers. It’s been great.”
Passmore, a native of Palatka, Florida, is a Team Thad AAU teammate of Link Academy senior point guard Labaron Philon, who also has committed to KU.
Passmore played at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, North Carolina before transferring to Combine for his junior season of high school. He visited KU for last Friday’s Late Night in the Phog event.
“Passmore is one of the more explosive athletes in the country who is strong, can really defend and has consistently been improving his halfcourt skillset, able to make shots from 3 and get downhill,” writes Travis Branham of 247sports.com.
Passmore played quarterback in Florida until suffering a concussion in eighth grade. At that point he took up basketball.
“She was done with football,” Passmore told SI.com, referring to his mom. “She wanted me to focus on basketball, and, man, I was mad at first. I’ll be honest, I used to say basketball was for softies. It turned out to be the best decision I ever made.
“I always played, but not organized,” Passmore added of playing basketball. “I always had guys in the community that played ball and I’d just be around dribbling and stuff like that. It was mostly a timing thing, but things started to click after a while.”
Recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw of On3.com likes Passmore’s athleticism.
“Rakease Passmore is a lengthy and highly explosive wing. At 6-5, there is talk of him having a 46-inch max vertical jump. When he gets a head of steam, he attacks the rim with bad intentions,” Shaw wrote. “When Rakease Passmore gets out in transition, fire your phone up, he is likely to have his head up around rim level on the finish. Passmore has a lot of straight-line lift and he likes to show that off when he gets on the break.”
Shaw continued: “Passmore is much developed as a shooter. The release is high and consistent. He needs to develop creating off the bounce and building consistency, getting the ball into his shot pocket off the live dribble. Passmore has a high-level work ethic, which is evident by his rapid improvement over a short amount of time.”
Jordan Monaco of SI.com wrote: “Passmore is a 6-5 wing who appears to be even taller on film. He has the ability to hit catch-and-shoot 3s and is a threat to create offense in transition at all times, even if it seems like the offense doesn’t have a clear advantage.
“Most intriguing, however, are his flashes of shooting off of movement and screens. The footwork is impeccable, and there could be real potential for actions to be drawn up for him that will consistently open up his ability to shoot off of movement or screens this upcoming season at Combine Academy.”
Monaco added: “Passmore has the tools to be impactful on the defensive side of the ball as well. He uses his length to garner on-ball blocks at times, but also attempts to rely on his length too often. Both his lateral quickness defensively and defensive technique will be two areas scouts may be watching to see him improve this upcoming season.”
Three players have committed to KU thus far in the recruiting class of 2024. Passmore is joined in the class by Flory Bidunga, a 6-9, 220-pound senior forward from Kokomo (Indiana) High School, and Philon, a 6-3, 175-pound senior point guard from Link, Academy in Branson.
Philon is ranked No. 27 in the recruiting class of 2024 by 247Sports.com, No. 35 by ESPN.com and No. 38 by Rivals.com. He chose KU over Cincinnati, Alabama and Mississippi. Bidunga is ranked No. 5 by Rivals.com and 247sports.com and No. 6 by ESPN.com. He chose KU over Duke, Auburn and Michigan.
