Lisa Wilson, mother of Jalen Wilson, talks Kansas commitment

The news couldn’t have been much bigger for Bill Self and the University of Kansas men’s basketball program. Late on Wednesday afternoon, Jalen Wilson, the 6-foot-8, 210-pound small forward from Guyer High School in Denton, Texas, verbally committed to the Jayhawks.

Originally set to attend Michigan, Wilson, the No. 47 ranked player in the 2019 class, asked to be released from his National Letter-of-Intent shortly after John Beilein left Ann Arbor to become head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA.

Once granted his release, Wilson, the No. 9 ranked small forward in the 2019 class, was contacted by over 30 Division I programs, but when the dust finally settled, just two programs, Kansas and North Carolina, were left standing.

Wilson, following official visits to Kansas (5/30) and North Carolina (6/3), sat down with his family and, for the second time, went through decision-making process of his recruitment.

“Once we get over the shock of everything and the day that the news broke, there was 32 schools that called Jalen’s AAU coach,” Lisa Wilson, the mother of four-star small forward Jalen Wilson, told JayhawkSlant.com. “I looked at him and told him that we were going to be okay. I told him to take a deep breath and let's just figure it out.

“We narrowed his list of schools down to like five,” she added. “Then, we obviously narrowed it down to the final two. Jalen has always liked Kansas, and Kansas is a school that recruited Jalen for a very long time.”

Wilson, who averaged 18.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game as a senior, was a top-priority for Bill Self and his staff before committing to Michigan on May 30, 2018.

In fact, there was a time when it looked like Wilson would become the first player from the 2019 class to verbally commit to Kansas, but following a visit to Michigan, he ultimately made the decision to play for John Beilein in Ann Arbor.

However, when Beilein decided to make the move to the NBA, Wilson opted to ask for his release and, in doing so, found Kansas back at the top of his list. Still, as interested as Wilson was in Kansas, and he’s built a very strong relationship with Bill Self and Jerrance Howard, he was committed to taking his time and breaking down each roster following his two official visits.

“So, we just wanted to make sure, you know, that we analyzed the two schools and the rosters,” she said. “We wanted to make sure that Jalen fits properly from a player standpoint and then we went from there. When Jalen got back from UNC, he made a pros-and-cons sheet and then went over every detail.

“As a family, we just sat down and went over all of the pros-and-cons,” she added.

Wilson, after processing all of the information from each visit, and breaking everything down with his family, was ready to make a decision after weighing all of the pros-and-cons at both Kansas and North Carolina.

For Wilson, when the time came to decide, Kansas was the final school left standing on his list. Looking back at the decision-making process, what was the biggest factor in Wilson giving the nod to Self and the Jayhawks?

“I think it was just how Coach Self really broke down where Jalen would play,” she said. “Coach Self spent a lot of time talking to Jalen about how he sees him as a player. Coach Self believes that Jalen can play multiple positions.

“Jalen can play the two, the three, or the four,” she added. “Coach Self sees Jalen as the type of player that can come to Kansas and play different positions and play different roles. That’s one thing that really stood out to us when it was time to make a decision.

“Jalen is very dangerous from behind the three-point line,” she continued. “He’s very versatile and plays with that type of mentality.”

While Wilson didn’t announce his final decision until Wednesday afternoon, he had a pretty good idea of where he was headed shortly after his visit to North Carolina was complete.

“The day he got back from UNC, that next day, we sat down as a family and we talked over everything,” she said. “From that day on, and obviously, we didn’t announce the decision then and there, but from that day on, he knew.

“From that day on he knew, and he never looked back on his decision,” he added.

With his decision behind him, the next step for Wilson is making the move to Lawrence to join the rest of his teammates. According to his mother, that move could potentially happen this weekend.

“We are actually talking about getting up to Lawrence this weekend,” she said. “If everything works out, and I’ve already talked to Coach (Jerrance) Howard and the timing and everything. We’ve got some red tape we’ve got to go through from a paperwork standpoint.

“We had already known that he could take the six hours (summer school) in July, so that’s why we didn’t really want to be pressured to make a quick decision.,” he added. “We had a talk with Coach Self about attending summer school in July and allowing us to make a sound decision.

“Obviously, Jalen wants to get to Kansas,” she continued. “He’s really excited. Jalen is excited to get going, so hopefully he can make it this weekend, but if not, early next week.”