Juju Ramirez breaks down Kansas offer
It was like nothing Juju Ramirez, the 6-foot-8, 205-pound forward from Lawrence, Kan., could have expected when the start of his week kicked off last Monday morning. Ramirez, having spent the first two years of his prep career at Bishop Seabury Academy before opting to make the move to New Hampton (NH) Prep for the final two years of his prep career, expected to hear from a member of the Kansas coaching staff on Monday, the first day of the contact period for prospects in the 2022 class.
However, Ramirez, who is sitting on scholarship offers from Kansas, Denver, and Bryant, never expected to receive a scholarship offer from his hometown Jayhawks.
“I mean, my first call was from Denver and I’ve already got an offer from them, so that call was more of a check-in thing,” Juju Ramirez told JayhawkSlant.com during a recent phone conversation. “My second call, which was around 10:00 or 11:00 (in the morning) was from Coach (Kurtis) Townsend from KU. It was during that conversation that Coach Townsend offered me a scholarship.
“After all of that went down, I got some text messages from other schools that are recruiting me,” he added. “Right now, I’ve got scholarship offers from Kansas, Denver, and Bryant.”
For Ramirez, he couldn’t have envisioned a better way to get his Monday morning started than with a scholarship offer from the University of Kansas. While he fully expected to hear from a member of the coaching staff, Ramirez had no idea that a scholarship offer would be extended during his conversation with Coach Townsend.
“I mean, I was expecting a call from KU, but I didn’t know that I was going to receive a full offer,” said Ramirez. “I thought that they would just be checking in, because I’m making the move to New Hampton Prep this winter, so I thought the staff would just check-in and see how I’m doing. I thought they would just reach out and say that they planned to watch me this winter, but when I got the offer from Kansas, I was pretty shocked.
“Coach Townsend is a pretty well-respected coach, so it was great to hear from him,” he continued. “He got straight to the point and it was pretty cool. He even talked to my parents, so it was awesome. I just tried to stay as calm as I could during the conversation, but it was a big adrenaline rush. I’m pretty sure that I jumped around and it was pretty crazy. I just had to process what had just happened in my brain.”
For Ramirez, he’s no stranger to the University of Kansas or its men’s basketball program. His mother was an athlete at Kansas and his father grew up playing the game as well.
“My mom played volleyball at KU and my dad was always a basketball player,” he said. “He knew all of the Kansas basketball players, like Brady Morningstar, Sherron Collins, and Tyshawn Taylor, and all of those guys.”
When it comes to his immediate future, everything is still on hold due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Ramirez isn’t yet sure when, if at all, the AAU season will start, and a date for his move to New Hampton Prep hasn’t been decided on, either.
For the time being, Ramirez is staying busy and preparing himself for life after COVID-19.
“I’m for sure just trying to work out,” he said. “MOKAN (AAU team) has a little warehouse that I’ve been going to, so they’ve been helping me out a lot. I’m just trying to get ready for whatever happens, because anything could just pop off and there could be a live session.
“I’m just trying to stay ready for whatever might happen in August or September,” he added.
Staying ready for whatever might potentially happen includes working on all aspects of his game. For Ramirez, it not just about focusing on his strengths, but all areas of his game, both the strengths and weaknesses.
“I feel like I can play pretty well from the outside and create a lot of mismatches, but I also feel that I can get a lot stronger, faster, and more athletic, which all goes up as the level of basketball goes up.
“I’m more of a stretch four type of player,” he added. “I can score from the outside or I can score down under the basket.”
While Ramirez couldn’t be any happier with the scholarship offer from Kansas, he plans to take his time with the process moving forward. Despite the offer, a decision isn’t close to being made at this stage of his recruitment.
“For sure, I’ll definitely be taking my time,” he said. “I can also say that it will play a big role that Kansas was one of the biggest schools to offer me first, so that will play a big role. Otherwise, I’m pretty much open to taking my time and make sure that I take the time to think about it.”