The #8 ranked player in the ESPNU 100, Josh Selby, will make his way to Lawrence, Kansas this Friday for ‘Late Night in the Phog.’
The visit to Kansas will be an unofficial visit as Selby plans on taking either the ACT or SAT in the coming weeks. Once Selby has taken one of the tests he can, then, make official visits to schools.
Selby re-opened his recruitment in July after decommitting from Tennessee, where he originally committed in September of 2008. After hosting a number of schools this September for in-home visits, Selby and his mother, Maeshon Witherspoon, narrowed the list of schools on September 27th (article here) to six schools, Baylor, Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Miami and Indiana.
As for why the decision to visit Kansas for ‘Late Night,’ according to Witherspoon, credit should go to the Kansas coaching staff.
“The KU staff is persistent and consistent,” said Witherspoon of the Kansas coaching staff. “Coach Self always makes a point to use his two calls, one to Josh and on to me,” added Witherspoon of the two calls coaches can make to recruits.
The trip to Lawrence is exciting for Josh and his mother. They’re interested in seeing, first hand, all of the things that the University of Kansas has to offer and how the school and basketball program can help Selby attain all of his goals.
”We are excited because we know that there will be other elite prospects there, and we respect their games,” Witherspoon added. “I want to see how Coach (Self) runs a practice and how he interacts with his players. I also want to see the academic facilities and meet the people who are responsible for making sure he is on the right path for a degree,” added Witherspoon.
Witherspoon says that the Kansas system is something that Josh is very interested in.
“The style of play,” said Witherspoon about what Selby has said of the Jayhawks. “He likes how Coach Self has made himself approachable. He also likes the players that KU is recruiting,” added Witherspoon.
Selby will be in Lawrence to experience the annual Kansas basketball kick-off celebration, “Late Night in the Phog.” Selby and his mother, Maeshon Witherspoon, had Kansas high on their list after visiting with members of the coaching staff on September 9th, the first day coaches could conduct in-home visits with recruits. Selby and Witherspoon were very impressed with with the history of Kansas basketball and all of the great players and coaches that have spent time in Lawrence.
“Tradition,” Witherspoon said when asked what stood out about Kansas after the in home visit on September 9th. “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.
With the trip to ‘Late Night,’ Selby and Witherspoon won’t leave Lawrence without seeing all of that tradition first hand; the Booth Family Hall of Athletics, the multiple videos, Allen Fieldhouse and the 16,300 people that will pile inside Allen Fieldhouse to catch a glimpse of the pre-season title favorite, Kansas Jayhawks.
