Kansas may have lost two prize freshmen with international backgrounds– guard Andre Wiggins of Canada and 7-0 center Joel Embiid from Cameroon to the NBA lottery, but it hasn’t taken long for Bill Self to reload by expanding his program’s horizons into Eastern Europe.
Wiggins and Embiid should be two of the top three players selected in the draft with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won the draft lottery, leaning toward relatively inexperienced but shot blocking phenoma Embiid at this time. But the Jayhawks shouldn’t miss a beat after signing a top-ranked recruiting class that will now include Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, a top 16-year-old basketball prospect from Ukraine, who was the best pure three point shooter in the recent Nike Hoops Summit practices in Portland, Oregon. The slender 6-8 wing, who also participated in the international game at Jordan Classic in Brooklyn, would likely have been a McDonald’s All-American next year if he was part of the recruiting class of 2015 in the States, announced for the Jayhawks Wednesday.
Mykhailiuk, who will turn 17 in June, will play for the Ukraine national team this summer before arriving in Lawrence in the fall. NBA age requirements ensure he will spend at least two seasons at Kansas before he is eligible to enter the draft.
Kansas beat out Virginia, which had been considered the early leader for Mykhailiuk once they heard last fall he was interested in playing college basketball in this country..
“Obviously, this is great news for us,” Kansas coach Bill Self said in a school-released statement. “His skill level, knowledge and aptitude for the game are way beyond his years. I think that he will be an immediate impact guy. He is a guy that can play all three positions on the perimeter. At 6-8, he can play point, play the No. 2 (guard) or the No. 3 (guard). He allows us to be more versatile next year and certainly, there would be few people that would shoot it better than him.”
The addition of Mykhailiuk gives Kansas another blue chip recruit on a roster that already returns starters Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden, point guard Frank Mason and shooters Conner Frankamp and Brannen Greene. Kelly Oubre, a 6-6 McDonald’s All American from Dallas, is the heir apparent to Wiggins at small forward, 6-9, 250 pound McDonald’s All American Cliff Alexander, who participated in the World U18 3 x 3 championships in Jakarta last fall, will take over for Embiid at center and Devonte Graham from Brewster, N.H. Academy will compete with Mason and Frankamp for playing time at point guard.
Mykhailiuk’s role is unclear at this point but he should be part of the rotation as a freshman despite his age. Most likely, Mykhailiuk will come off the bench at wing as a top reserve behind Oubre and Selden and then move into a starting role as a sophomore once he becomes more Americanized and learns how to score off the bounce.
Mykhailiuk solidified his reputation as a blue chip prospect at the 2013 U-16 European Championships, averaging 25.2 points and 8.0 rebounds as Ukraine finished 10th in the 16-team event. Mykhailiuk, who has taken English classes all his life and filled out the paperwork by himself to play for the international team against a group of U.S. high school stars in the Hoops Classic, was drawn to Kansas because of its tradition of success. “I liked everything,” he said. “From the history, the strength program and especially the coaches – everything. It’s Kansas. KU has players every year. Coach Self has had so many players go to the NBA. That’s an important thing.”
Even before the commitment from Mykhailiuk, Kansas was a consensus preseason top five team next year with its ultimate success in March hinging on whether a quality point guard emerges. “This could arguably be one of the very best recruiting classes that we’ve had,” Self said. “I think of last year’s class and I think of the class with Brandon (Rush), Mario (Chalmers) and Julian (Wright) – this class definitely rivals that.”
