Kyle Cuffe Jr. Signs NLI to Play at Kansas

Guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at Kansas, KU head coach Bill Self announced Thursday. Cuffe will be a freshman at KU for 2021-22.

Cuffe is a combo guard who verbally committed to Kansas in December 2020 and has reclassified for 2021. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound, Toms River, New Jersey, native played for powerhouse Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, under coach Joe Mantegna and is known for his explosive athletic ability, toughness and scoring.

“Kyle is a young man that has great upside and the determination to be a great player,” Self said. “He’s an explosive athlete that makes plays on both ends of the floor. His father, Kyle Sr., was a great player at St. John’s and has been instrumental in Kyle’s development. He is already a well-prepared player coming from a powerhouse school like Blair Academy under the excellent tutelage of Joe Mantegna.”

Due to COVID-19, this past season Blair Academy played only two games and Cuffe averaged 25.0 points, scoring 28 and 22 points, respectively. In 2019-20, he averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Blair Academy posted a 24-3 record in 2019-20, was Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) Champions and State Prep A runner-up. Cuffe was named to the 2020 All-MAPL team.