Kansas basketball coach Bill Self reflects on season, Gonzaga loss
Check out what Kansas basketball coach Bill Self had to say recently after the Jayhawks’ season ended with a NCAA tournament loss against Gonzaga.
LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball added a couple of high-profile freshmen ahead of next season, with one of them being Rakease Passmore.
Passmore is a 247Sports Composite four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class and ranked as the No. 39 player in his class overall. Although there are a number of veterans on the roster, for a team that’ll be favored to enjoy Big 12 Conference and national success, the potential is there for him to carve out a role if he can continue to impress this summer.
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Here are a few things to think about as Passmore’s first season of college basketball nears:
Rakease Passmore isn’t afraid of competition
Passmore, listed as a 6-foot-5 and 185-pound guard when he signed back in November, was watching as Kansas added talented guard after talented guard through the transfer portal during the offseason. But, he told reporters earlier this month that he’ll always be confident in himself, even if people might have thought he’d decide to start his college career elsewhere. He still wanted to be a part of the Jayhawks’ program, and predicted the competition will bring out the best in him.
What role Passmore will have will be determined, but he said he can offer defense, shot-making ability and energy. He anticipated coach Bill Self playing him at either the 2-spot or the 3-spot. Passmore noted the most significant adjustment he’ll have to make is playing in front of crowds like the ones he’ll see this season inside Allen Fieldhouse.
Rakease Passmore has drawn a comparison to Ochai Agbaji
Ochai Agbaji developed into one of the best players in college basketball during the course of his Kansas career. That development culminated in Agbaji helping the Jayhawks win a national championship in 2022, before going on to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft that year. And, according to Passmore, there’s been a bit of comparison between the two of them — especially when it came to being able to knock down shots.
Passmore acknowledged how cool it is to be compared to someone who enjoyed the career Agbaji did. Passmore added, he has a lot of work to do in order to reach what Agbaji accomplished. That work is already underway.
Rakease Passmore is already impressing teammates
Passmore hasn’t been on campus long, but he’s impressing his teammates. Both forward Zach Clemence and center Hunter Dickinson, on the team last season, praised Passmore earlier this month. Considering those two are front-court talents, chances are they’ll share the court with Passmore at times this season.
Clemence told reporters Passmore does a lot of things well, can shoot the ball and is athletic. Dickinson highlighted how well Passmore played during a local camp scrimmage, and noted how excited he is to play with Passmore. Passmore just needs to keep that momentum going as the season approaches.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.