Kansas locks down high-flying guard Rakease Passmore

October 11, 2023 by Max Feldman

THE LEAD

Rakease Passmore, the 38th overall prospect in 2024, has committed to Kansas. The high-flyer out of the Tar Heel state chose the Jayhawks over the likes of Oklahoma and LSU.

BACKGROUND

Passmore leapt onto the national radar during the summer going into his junior campaign, and hasn't looked back. Come June of 2022, the Combine Academy (NC) guard was squarely on high major radars from coast to coast. It's been a winding recruitment with a ton of programs involved, including visits to Oregon, Mississippi State, Wake Forest, LSU and Oklahoma, but Kansas has officially sealed the deal after getting him on campus.

SOUND BITE

"A blend of Victor Oladipo and Ochai Agbaji. Smooth athlete, very good defender, hard right hand driver and improved shooter." -- anonymous high major assistant coach

WHAT'S NEXT?

About a month and a half ago, Kansas had no commitments in 2024 and didn't necessarily look to be in the steering wheel for anyone. Now, they've locked down three Top-40 prospects and have one of the nation's most talented senior classes on the way. Reclassifications could always shift things late, but it seems more than likely that Bill Self and company will carry a three-man freshman class into 2023-24.

MY TAKE

Very nice land for Kansas, who locked in on Passmore late and closed the deal. Perhaps 2024's premier pure athlete and perimeter defender, he has a high level foundation of tools to build on and clear-cut areas to key polishing. Exceptionally high ceiling to tap into given further development as both a ball-handler and shooter (26% in EYBL). Offensively, Philon slots in cleanly alongside his Team Thad teammate, Labaron Philon, while creating a formidable blend of point of attack defense and rim protection with Flory Bidunga on the other end. Different than many touted with lofty upside, he has a collection of skills that should translate to a valuable complementary role from the jump in Lawrence. High level blend of immediate scalability to the next level and long-term potential well beyond.

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