Head Coach, Bill Self, and members of the Kansas coaching staff had the opportunity to conduct an in-home visit with the #8 ranked player in the 2010 class, Josh Selby, on Wednesday evening. Shortly after that visit, TheShiver.com spoke with Selby’s mother, Maeshon Witherspoon, about the visit with Coach Self.
“The visit went well,” Witherspoon said about the in home visit with the Kansas staff. “Coach Self, Coach Dooley and Coach Townsend were there. They told us about the school and the program,” Witherspoon added about the visit.
After meeting Coach Self and the rest of the staff, and learning more about the Kansas program, it appears that Selby and his mother have an overall good impression of Kansas.
“Tradition,” Witherspoon said when asked what stood out about Kansas after the in home visit. “They (KU) have a real history. Great coaches like Larry Brown, Roy Williams and something I didn’t know, Wilt Chamberlain went there. I thought that was something there,” added Witherspoon.
Selby did have some idea what playing at Kansas is like after spending time with current Kansas point guard Sherron Collins at the LeBron James Skills Academy this summer. Like many players often due, Selby asked Sherron about his time in Lawrence.
“He liked him,” Witherspoon about Selby’s thoughts on Coach Self. “Josh knew a little about Kansas from spending time with Sherron Collins in Ohio at LeBron camp this summer. They just spent time with others casually talking about different schools,” added Witherspoon.
With some knowledge about the school from Collins, Selby and his mother still learned quite a bit when visiting with Coach Self and his staff.
“We felt very comfortable,” Witherspoon said. ” We learned a lot about the education at Kansas. They talked about helping Josh with some things he needs to work on, like public speaking, and they talked about their roles in getting Josh bettter,” added Witherspoon.
It appears that Self’s easy-going and laid-back approach was something both Witherspoon and Selby enjoyed during the visit. In fact, Wednesday’s in home visit results could help get Selby to visit Kansas at the annual ‘Late Night in the Phog’ celebration.
“He didn’t have a planned recruiting speech,” Witherspoon said about coach Self. “We talked about their midnight madness. It would be an unofficial if that happened, but we might work that out, if possible. Josh and I will sit down and talk about it,” Witherspoon added.
As far as basketball is concerned, Witherspoon liked the way the coaches talked about the Kansas system and how Josh would fit into that system.
“They talked about the offense and it’s a very NBA style with the guards,” Witherspoon said. We like that because that’s something that we’re looking for in a school,” added Witherspoon.
With Selby’s length (76 inch wing span), it wouldn’t be a surprise for fans to compare him to former Kansas guard, Mario Chalmers. Like Chalmers, Selby is great at attacking the rim and finishing plays, something that Chalmers did often in his three years at Kansas. Selby can also score from behind the arc in bunches, like Chalmers. On defense, Selby not only has the long arms to disrupt passing lanes like Chalmers, Selby is also a terrific on the ball defender as well.
As for what’s next, Witherspoon mentioned that there are no in-home visits scheduled for Thursday, but that Texas and Baylor will visit with them on Friday. They will then finish out the in-home visits and begin to schedule visits to the schools that they think fit Josh best. Selby will take his ACT’s after October and, at that time, he will be able to make his visits official. Time is something that both Selby and Witherspoon plan to use in the second go-round of the recruiting process for them.
“We are going to take our time this time around,” Witherspoon said. “It will probably be in to the spring before he decides,” Witherspoon added.
It was thought that the Jayhawks had the first in-home visit scheduled with Selby since Wednesday was the first day schools could conduct in-home visits with recruits. However, the Jayhawks were second. UCONN, who was originally scheduled for Thursday, got in to see Selby and his mother early on Wednesday morning.
The full in-home visit schedule for Selby is here.
