NEW YORK — Udoka Azubuike found out about Josh Jackson’s commitment to Kansas the same way just about everyone else did.
“I just found out from the Internet,” the 6-foot-10, 290-pound big man told SNY.tv on Wednesday at Jordan Brand Classic practice. “I think my boy Mitch Lightfoot, he’s going to Kansas, he tagged me on Twitter about it. I just went on Twitter and I was like, ‘Oh, wow really?’ I was impressed.”
Did Azubuike jump up and down to celebrate?
“I didn’t jump up and down,” he said. “I was really exctited about it because Josh is a good player, he’s really good. He’s a guy that demands a lot of attention from opposing teams. It’s a good fit for us.”
Jackson, Azubuike and the 6-8 Lightfoot now comprise the No. 7-ranked recruiting class by Scout.com.
The 6-foot-7 Jackson chose Kansas over Michigan State and Arizona despite the fact that Arizona coach Sean Miller told ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla that his staff spent some 800 hours recruiting Jackson.
“This summer I kind of have [developed] a little relationship with Josh little a bit,” Azubuike said. “Each time I saw him we talk about it a little bit. I had a little bit of an idea that he was going to come to Kansas. I didn’t want to bother him about recruiting, I wanted him to make his own decision.”
He added of Jackson: “He’s a tough kid to play against. He demands so much attention form the opposing teams. I just feel like he’s a really good fit for Kansas.”
Kansas loses a slew of bigs in Perry Ellis, Hunter Mickelson, Jamari Traylor and Cheick Diallo, meaning there is playing time for Azubuike right away.
“When I spoke to Bill Self, [ he said] I really have a good chance of coming in and starting right away as a freshman,” Azubuike said. “He said my role is to dominate. Just work on my game and get better.”
Self told SNY.tv last week that he believes the 2016-17 freshmen class in college basketball will play a key role in determing the NCAA champion.
That freshman class not only includes Azubuike and Jackson, but several of Azubuike’s East teammates in the Jordan Classic: Duke-bound Jayson Tatum, the Kentucky-bound duo of Bam Adebayo and De’Aaron Fox, Washington signee Markelle Fultz and Florida State commit Jonathan Isaac, to name a few.
For his part, Azubuike wants to help Kansas win another Big 12 title and compete for a deep postseason run one year after the No. 1-seeded Jayhawks were stunned by eventual NCAA champion Villanova in the Elite Eight.
He said he wants to work on his body and hopefully get down to about 270 pounds.
“This year after the loss we had a group text from Kansas about it,” Azubuike said. “Everybody else, me, Mitch and some of the Kansas players, we are motivated this year. We want to win the Big 12 championship and possibly make it to the Final Four.”
**For more on Josh Jackson, check out Fran Fraschilla’s comments on The 4 Quarters Podcast.
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NUdoka Azubuike found out about Josh Jackson’s commitment to Kansas the same way just about everyone else did.
