In finalizing the 2011 recruiting class Bill Self has his sights set on a pair of players and a pair of scorers including a potential major player in the backcourt, Trevor Lacey. It's not that the Kansas backcourt is void of talent. Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson both return coming off solid seasons and the Jayhawks will have a healthy Travis Releford to add to the mix. All three and future Jayhawks Naadir Tharpe and Ben McClemore have talent.
What Lacey brings to the table that Kansas doesn't necessarily have a definitive answer for at the moment is outside shooting and the ability to score. As a senior Lacey led his team with 31.4 points per contest to go along with 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2.6 assists. That's the profile of a shooting guard that knows how to produce offense. That shooting ability and that knack for scoring are two areas that the Jayhawks don't necessarily have an answer for. Following a season where the offensive gameplan was a given with the Morris twins controlling the interior, Kansas will need to look to different areas next season and Lacey can provide that outside punch.
In an article for Alabama.com, Lacey's coach Jack Doss described the talented shooting guard as the best player in Alabama history. Doss rattles off names like Charles Barkley, Gerald Wallace, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe and Robert Horry. Doss puts Lacey above all of them.
"His brain processes like a computer. He sees strengths and weakness in what a team does. That computer in his brain filters strengths out and finds a weak spot. He takes a step and finds what he needs to do to beat that strength."
"Trevor backs it all up on the court with winning. As great as they all were, Trevor is better."
Adding a player as talented as Lacey this late in the game will be a major boost to someone's roster. For Kansas it's a boost that could make a significant difference in the Jayhawk offensive makeup going forward.