Former Rice and Vanderbilt guard Noah Shelby committed to Kansas on Sunday afternoon. The rising junior scored 3.9 points per game in 11 minutes per game for the Owls last season before entering the transfer portal.

Shelby is a McKinney, Texas native and has known Kansas’ Alabama transfer Rylan Griffen for a long time now.

“I know Rylan really well, I’ve known him since we were about 4 years-old, so I talked to him a lot about it,” Shelby said. “I talk to Rylan basically every day, so I knew he was going to Kansas when he committed, so I knew that obviously he wanted me to join him.”

Griffen is not the only Kansas player from the state of Texas that Shelby will be joining, as Jamari McDowell, KJ Adams and Zach Clemence all come from the Lone Star State.

Shelby knows that the first year at Kansas for Shelby will not see him on the court, as he is going to redshirt during his first year, something that has been the plan all along.

“I wanted to go somewhere where I could get better and I wanted to redshirt my next year no matter where I was going to go,” Shelby said.

Both Dajuan Harris and Clemence have taken a year to practice with the team now and Shelby knows that despite him not seeing the court, the upcoming year can be big for his development, and how crucial his role is for the team.

“It’s very important,” Shelby said. “I’ve been in college for two years, I understand how much goes into game-planning and preparation and all that stuff. So I know me doing a good job in that is going to help us win games and that’s everyone’s goal at Kansas. We want to win a national championship and I know my role in that is big, just as much as any other player on the team.”

The end goal for Shelby is to be a contributor after the 2025 season is over, but is focused on helping the 2024 team as much as possible.

“I want to be an impact player once the redshirt is lifted,” Shelby said. “I know next year I want to help the team any way I can.”