Letter of intent signing puts team over scholarship limit
Kansas coach Bill Self has said that Rush would enter the NBA Draft once the year ended.
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
So is Brandon Rush gone for good?
It appears that way after junior college guard Tyrone Appleton signed a letter of intent to play for Kansas Wednesday afternoon. Appleton’s signing puts the Jayhawks over the NCAA’s limit of scholarships, meaning that someone will have to transfer, give up a scholarship or enter the NBA Draft.
Odds are the player who does that will be Rush. Since the beginning of the season, Kansas coach Bill Self has said that Rush would enter the NBA Draft once the year ended. Rush originally entered the NBA Draft after his sophomore season last year, but he withdrew when he tore his ACL in late May. Rush told reporters that he hadn’t made a decision about his future last week.
Appleton, who committed to Kansas in February, averaged 13.2 points, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game last season as a sophomore at Midland (Texas) Community College for a team that finished 28-4. Midland won the NJCAA National Championship when Appleton was a freshman.
“Tyrone has won big at the junior college level and certainly has sacrificed individual stats for the betterment of his team,” Self said. “We were sold on Tyrone when we first came in contact with him. He’s going to be a terrific addition to a young basketball team from a talent standpoint but most importantly from a leadership standpoint.”
Appleton is KU’s sixth signee in this year’s recruiting class. He joins Travis Releford, Quintrell Thomas, Marcus Morris, Markeiff Morris and Mario Little. It’s possible that Appleton won’t be the last player to sign with the Jayhawks.
Besides Rush, Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers have expressed interest in the NBA Draft. If they leave, two more scholarships would open up. Kansas could possibly fill up one of those scholarships with J’Mison Morgan. Morgan originally considered the Jayhawks before signing with Louisiana State. But after LSU fired coach John Brady, Morgan expressed interest in asking out of his letter of intent.
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I'd love J'Mison Morgan to come here. We need more depth at the center position other than Aldrich.
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