Freshman guard Rakease Passmore spent his last two years at Combine Academy in North Carolina before committing to play for Kansas. The four-star prospect competed in the Overtime Elite league, where he averaged close to 20 points per game. These competitive prep opportunities have Passmore prepared to transition to the college game.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a huge transition because I went to Combine Academy so I lived on campus, stuff like that,” Passmore said. “So I think I was pretty prepared to come here and be ready.”

The years at Combine Academy were especially impactful, as Passmore said being there made him put in the work to elevate his game.

Passmore joins a loaded guard core at Kansas. The Jayhawks return Dajuan Harris, Jamari McDowell, and Elmarko Jackson, who was recently lost to a season-ending injury. Bill Self hit the portal hard, bringing in AJ Storr, Rylan Griffen, and Zeke Mayo. While there are a lot of players fighting for minutes, Passmore doesn’t seem worried about his fit in the Crimson and Blue.

“I’m always confident in myself,” Passmore said. “Everybody probably thought I was gonna hit the decommitment button, but you know, I had confidence in myself even when [people] transferred in, I still wanted to come be a part of this.”

Passmore thinks the competition can bring out the best in him. He has the chance to go against proven college guards every day in practice getting the chance to prove himself.

“Every time I get competition, I always go past where everybody thinks I will,” Passmore said.

The Lincolnton, NC native described how he could make an impact as “defense, knock down shots, energy guy, whatever coach needs me to do.”

“I’m more of a power athlete,” Passmore added. “I’m just getting developed how to shoot the three ball, stretch the floor, so it’s good to get some reps in.”

Passmore showed early flashes of being able to put the ball in the basket. During a team scrimmage during camp, Passmore led all scorers with 16 points and also made four threes.

“It was a great experience to play with the older guys and everybody on my team,” Passmore said. “It was fun to perform like that.”

Self compared Passmore to Ochai Agbaji during his recruitment. He likened the way Passmore can knock down shots and just “do what you got to do.”

“I’ve got to put in a lot of work to catch him [Agbaji], it’s not just going to be easy,” Passmore said