PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas– Got my first in person look at Kansas freshman forward Gradey Dick yesterday at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
I know it’s early, but the 6-7 Dick, a McDonald’s All American who was the Gatorade national player of the Year at Sunrise Christian Academy, has a chance to be the best shooter ever to play for Bill Self.
Dick exploded for 25 points, making six three point attempts in hte first half as the defending national champions defeated a competitive North Carolina State team from the ACC, 80-74, in an opening roiund game at the resort. the Jayhawks will play fundamentlally sound Big Ten darkhorse Wisconsin in the first semi-final Thursday. USC will play Tennessee in the other semi-final.
None of Dick’s performance surprised Self, who was making frequent visits to Wichita to watch him play since Dick was a ninth grade prodigy, playing for Collegiate High. After Dick transfered to Sunrise, he exploded onto the national stage
Dick, a projected late lottery pick, has already had his moments during Kansas 6-0 start. He made three huge shots in the final three minutes as the Jayhawks rallied to defeat Duke in the Champions Classic.
But this converted balll room was was his coming out party The arena was filled with NBA scouts.who were hear to also watch Dick, his 6-7 junior teammate Jalen Wilson and NC State’s 6-4 sophomore point guard Terquavion Smith, who should also
be NBA first round draft picks.
Dick drilled a three just before half to give the Jayhawks a 39-31 lead, but nothing lasts forever.
When Dick’s lost his legs in the seccnd half, the versatile Wilson who shifted to center when Kansas was forced to play small after KJ Adams fouled oiut, took control, scoring 10 of his 19 points He also grabbed 11 rebounds..Undr valued sophooer guard Dajuan Harris also picked up the slack, scoring 11 of his 14 points. “I hope this tournament provideds a chance for everyone to see how good he is,” Bill Self said.
Self was back on the bench after serving a university manddated four game suspension in the wake of an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations.
“When the alarm goes off at 7 a.m., I normally don’t hop out of bed,” he said. “but today I did. I was excited to see what was going to happen.”
When Self walked out of the tunnel, he received a healthy ovation and high fived several fans iurthappy to be back.”
Kansas learned a lot about itself playing against a team that had incredible quickness in the backcourt and actually played the Jayhawks more competitively than Duke, rallying from 8 and 9 down in the second half to force a 63-63 tie before Wilson scored on a driving layup and made a second chance basket to drive the lead to four. Kansas held on from there, But the Pack, who got 19 points from Smith, a first team pre-season All ACC choice; and 21 from guard Casey Morsell, showed it will be a handful on Tabacco Road “What a game, NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “It felt like a late-January or February ACC matchup. Give Kansas credit. I thouight they made plays dowjn the stretch when they had to have it. I’m proud of our guys, how hard they played against a Top 5 team. Unfortunately, we came up a little shot of winning the game, but a lot to built on.”
