Nicolas Timberlake loves everything Kansas has to offer

During his final year at Towson, Nicolas Timberlake, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound shooting guard from Braintree, Mass., averaged 17.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Offensively, Timberlake, the No. 16 ranked player in the transfer portal, shot 45.5 percent from the field, 41.6 percent from behind the arc, and 84.5 percent from the free-throw line.

At the conclusion of the season, Timberlake decided to enter the transfer portal and find a new school to call home. While many high-major programs came calling, just three programs, North Carolina, Kansas, and Connecticut, received a visit from the talented shooting guard.

Following visits to North Carolina, Kansas, and Connecticut, Timberlake, on April 19, gave the nod to Bill Self and the Jayhawks.

Recently, JayhawkSlant.com caught up with Jeff Timberlake, the father of Nicolas Timberlake, to take a closer look at the decision-making process.

“It's Kansas, said Jeff Timberlake with a laugh during a recent conversation with JayhawkSant.com. “I mean, it's not really that crazy. It’s Kansas, so it really isn’t that crazy. He worked his butt off and was First Team All-CAA for two years in-a-row. He was arguably one of the best players in the league this year.

“He is reaping the benefits now because he’s got one more year,” he added.

For Timberlake, who recently made his verbal commitment to Kansas official by signing on with Bill Self and the Jayhawks, the recruiting process was completely different the second time around. Coming out of Kimball Union Academy in Plainfield, N.H., as a member of the 2018 class, Timberlake had very few options to consider.

Timberlake ultimately decided to sign on with Towson. In total, he appeared in 122 games and, during that stretch, averaged 12.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Additionally, Timberlake shot 42.0 percent from the field, 37.9 percent from behind the arc, and 79.2 percent from the free-throw line.

Following the decision to leave Towson, his recruitment, not surprisingly, was much different the second time around. One of the top players in the portal, Timberlake had an almost unlimited number of options to consider when looking at his future.

However, when all was said and done, just three schools, North Carolina, Kansas, and Connecticut, received visits from Timberlake. Shortly after Timberlake committed to Kansas, his father talked to JayhawkSlant.com about the visit to Lawrence.

“He wanted to see the whole thing,” said Jeff Timberlake. “I mean, he went from five schools at 18 to, I don’t know, 65 or 70 schools in a month. Really, it was recruiting on steroids. Every night you're getting calls from big-time college coaches and it was a blast. It’s different when you’re older and have and you’re more experienced and more mature and you know what you want.

“It was about playing time and it was about going to the right place,” he added. “He wants to go to the NCAA Tournament, and he’s never been, so now we actually have a chance to win a National Championship, which is the goal. Coach (Bill) Self, you know, he was amazing.”

When looking to the 2023-24 season, Kansas, without question, has some bodies to replace. Bobby Pettiford (transfer), Joseph Yesufu (transfer), Gradey Dick (NBA), Jalen Wilson (NBA), MJ Rice (transfer), Kevin McCullar (testing the NBA waters), Zach Clemence (transfer), and Cam Martin (transfer) have all moved on following KU’s season-ending loss to season.

Dajuan Harris, Jr., Kyle Cuffe, Jr., Wilder Evers, Charlie McCarthy, Michael Jankovich, Dillon Wilhite, Ernest Udeh, Jr., KJ Adams, Jr., and Zuby Ejiofor all return, while Marcus Adams, Jr., Elmarko, Jamari McDowell, and Chris Johnson will experience playing college basketball for the first time when the season kicks off in November.

Timberlake was the first major domino to fall for Kansas, but he certainly won’t be the last. While Self and his staff wait for several key decisions to be made, including Hunter Dickinson, the No. 1 ranked player in the transfer portal, the Jayhawks, without question, greatly improved with the addition of Timberlake.

Self made Timberlake a priority from the very beginning. He was the first player from the portal to visit and, when it came time to make a decision, Self might have been the biggest reason Timberlake ultimately signed on with the Jayhawks.

“Coach Self was amazing,” said Timberlake. “He is very genuine and I think that’s the biggest and best compliment that I can give him. He was genuine and I never felt one time where I was second guessing what he was saying. He was truthful and that’s all we could ask for.

“I think he knew yesterday (the day before he committed),” he added when asked when his son knew Kansas was the choice. “It really was going back and forth. After North Carolina, we thought North Carolina was pretty impressive. Then, you get to go to Kansas and then to Connecticut, the team that just won the National Championship.

“So, it was a very tough decision,” he continued. “It wasn’t something that we took lightly. He did everything that he wanted to do. He looked at the rosters and he looked at the playing time and was going back and forth. Finally, he just thought about it for a little bit. It’s kind of tough when you have Bill Self, who’s in the Hall-of-Fame and arguably the best coach in college basketball. It's hard to say no.”

In 2018 Nicolas Timberlake was an unknown prospect from Kimball Union Academy in Plainfield, N.H. Not long from now, he’ll make the move to Lawrence, Kan., and arrive as one of the most coveted prospects in the transfer portal.

Life, for a number of reasons, is much different today for Timberlake. He’s expected to play a major role for a Hall-of-Fame coach and for a program that ranks No. 1 all-time in wins in college basketball.

Still, before Timberlake went public with his decision, his father told JayhawkSlant.com that his son informed one person in particular of his decision before anyone else.

“He told my wife first,” he said with a laugh. “Then, from what I understand, Coach (Bill) Self let out a couple of yells when he found out. For me, I bleed basketball. I love basketball and I love the (Boston) Celtics and I love college basketball. I got to coach in college and I played, so for me, March Madness is like Christmas.”

During KU’s season-ending banquet, Self made it clear that he would be living in the transfer portal and was very much looking forward to building next year's roster. Kansas, on April 19, took a giant step in the right direction when Timberlake committed to Self’s squad. A little more than a week after he committed, Nicolas Timberlake talked to JayhawkSlant.com about his decision.

“I picked Kansas because I just felt very comfortable on campus and around the coaches,” said Timberlake. “And, I mean, who wouldn’t want to play with arguably the best PG in the country in Dajuan (Harris) and then just a beast of a forward in KJ (Adams). So, I was very excited about both of them.”