The chasing of a top-ranked recruit is always an up-and-down affair, as prospects waver with each visit or conversation and seem to commit only to suddenly change their minds and de-commit for the sake of another school. Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks recently benefited from one such transfer in Kevin Young, while losing out to other schools for the services of DeAndre Daniels. Yet another name remains in the realm of possibility with the highest ranked point guard left for the 2012 class: J-Mychal Reese.
ESPN has Reese rated as the No. 2 overall point guard in his class and the No. 28 ranked prospect in the country. Reese has Lone Star roots, playing his high school ball in Bryan, TX, so it's no surprise to see Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M on the list of schools he's narrowed it down to. KU's Big 12 dominance must play a part in his interest, seeing the Texas teams constantly looking up to Self's success, and Reese likes the Kansas program for obvious reasons. Others on the list include Louisville, Oregon and Georgia Tech.
With so many schools involved, the casual response would be to shrug and realize there's a long road ahead, but Kansas has long been considered the favorite. Scout.com has Kansas as one of the top three programs for his services for months, and Rivals has KU listed as the favorite. So it's clear that the Jayhawks aren't just another option for Reese but in fact the favored horse in the race.
That's good news for Jayhawk fans longing for any announcement of a slam dunk recruit for the future, and Reese is that high impact scorer a team like KU would relish in their backcourt. Reese averaged 28 points, 6 boards and 4 assists per game last year, and every scouting service raves about his aggressive ability to put the ball in the basket.