K.J. Adams: "I need to follow my heart"
On Friday night, K.J. Adams, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound power forward from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, became the second player from the 2021 class to verbally commit to Kansas.
Adams, the No. 83 ranked player in the 2021 class, picked Kansas over scholarship offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Florida, Georgetown, Iowa, LSU, Miami (FL), Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Oregon, SMU, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UFC, Washington, and others.
With a live audience watching, Adams, a four-star prospect, gave the nod to Bill Self and the Jayhawks.
“I’m blessed and excited to announce that I’ll be committing to the University of Kansas,” said K.J. Adams. “Probably, just the foundation that they have at Kansas (what convinced him), the history and Coach (Bill) Self. He was definitely a big contribution to that.
“The message, the history down the road, and I just know that I’ll be okay and they will push me to the limits,” he added. “I wanted to do something unique and everybody has been telling me and my family that I need to do what I need to do.
“Just because I’m from Austin and live next to Texas, I need to follow my heart,” he continued. “That’s what I did when I committed (to Kansas).”
Adams, the 16th best power forward in the 2021 class, joins four-star forward Zach Clemence in KU’s recruiting class. Clemence, the 6-foot-10, 205-pound forward from Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan., verbally committed to Kansas back on May 11.
Clemence is the No. 29 ranked player in the class and the 8th best power forward.
Not long after Adams committed to Kansas, Rivals.com National Basketball Recruiting Analyst Eric Bossi had this to say about KU’s most recent 2021 commitment.
“Powerfully built and crafty around the rim, Adams is good finisher around the rim who is pretty well developed as a scorer from 15 feet and in,” said Bossi. “He likes spin moves, is explosive to the hoop when he can gather himself to leap off of both feet. Maybe the most intriguing part of his game, though, is that he's a very good passer who can pick teams apart from the high post.
“In Adams, who has been a standout for the Team Griffin EYBL program, Kansas is getting a player that they hope can develop into the type of mismatch that Kristian Doolittle did over the last few years while developing into an All-Big 12 level player at Oklahoma,” he added.
With Adams in the fold, the Jayhawks 2021 class is taking on a Texas flavor. He joins skilled big man Zach Clemence, a native of San Antonio who attends Bel Aire (Kans.) Sunrise Christian. The duo gives Kansas the No. 10 ranked class in the 2021 team recruiting rankings.
Last season, Adams averaged 22.6 points a game while shooting 61.3 percent from the field to go along with 6.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Adams led the Chaps to a 33-2 record.