Why did Gradey Dick commit to Kansas?
On Wednesday night, Kansas got its man. After making Gradey Dick, the 6-foot-7, 195-pound small forward from Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan., a priority long ago, those efforts paid off for Bill Self and the University of Kansas men’s basketball program.
With family, friends, and members of the Sunrise Christian Academy coaching staff in attendance, Dick, the No. 8 ranked small forward in the class, become the second player from 2022 to verbally commit to Kansas.
“I’d like to announce that I will be committing to the University of Kansas,” said Gradey Dick with a huge smile on his face. “Obviously growing up here, I kind of followed them and obviously my siblings coming here, so I had an early connection with that, but I kind of kept that in the back of my mind as I kind of went through my recruiting just to kind of have a mature lookout on everything.
“And I just kind of realized the past couple months that it's still going to be my home and that's where I want to be at,” he added.
For Dick, the recruiting process was broken down into several sections. After piling up nearly 20 scholarship offers, the four-star prospect ultimately made the decision to narrow his list of schools down to eight.
When the dust finally settled, Kansas, Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Purdue, and Texas Tech were the eight programs left standing. Once Dick narrowed his list of schools, he continued to take the process in stride, remained in communication with members of each coaching staff, and ultimately decided that the only thing missing was a decision.
On February 24, Dick announced that he would be announcing his college decision on March 3, and most believed that Kansas would ultimately win out for his services. Well, that’s exactly how his recruitment played out earlier tonight.
What, if anything, is Dick looking forward to most about going to Kansas?
“I think just obviously just my teammates and then obviously I got Zack (Clemence) going there and so there's a lot of connections I just kind of built early,” said Dick. “It's just super nice, and then the fact that I have another year here at Sunrise, it's just super. It's just a big advantage because I get another year to kind of help my game get better.”
Standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 195-pounds, Dick is one of the most talented prospects in the class and has the opportunity to be a difference maker at the small forward position early on in his career.
This season, Dick, while playing for a Sunrise Christian Academy team that features five-star prospects Kendall Brown and Kennedy Chandler, along with four-star power forward Zach Clemence, is averaging 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
Offensively, Dick has connected on 48.3 percent of his field goals and 47.4 percent of his shots from behind the arc.
How does Dick seeing himself fitting in at Kansas and what does he expect to bring the most when he arrives on campus?
“I feel like I just bring kind of just an overall, just kind of all-around sense of versatility to my game and just kind of helping out at the wing spot,” he said. “Just kind of playing all around and just kind of guarding multiple positions. Just kind of coming in and you can kind of see how Kansas is kind of transforming with the game, with their wings, and just how they kind of just play their offense. So, I feel I can come in there and just kind of make an impact early."