KU corrals two

Padgett, Wilkes excited about being Jayhawks

One oral commitment from Reno, Nev., big man David Padgett was announced bright and early Wednesday morning.

Another from Los Angeles shooting guard Omar Wilkes came late in the afternoon.

From start to finish, Wednesday proved to be one of the most productive days in Kansas University men’s basketball recruiting history.

After all, in just one day, Jayhawk coach Roy Williams landed 6-foot-11, 240-pound power forward Padgett, who quietly and without a news conference announced he would attend KU over North Carolina and Arizona. Williams also bagged Wilkes, Padgett’s 6-foot-4, 180-pound AAU teammate and good buddy, who used a press conference at Loyola High School to tap KU over UCLA his dad Jamaal’s alma mater and California.

Padgett is ranked No. 21 by Mike Sullivan’s rivalshoops.com. Wilkes currently is not in the top 100, but is considered one of the top players on the West Coast.

“I talked to David late last night,” Wilkes said Wednesday after making his decision public in front of 200 classmates, media members and relatives at Loyola High. “I told him my decision was, in my heart, I wanted to be a Jayhawk.

“After a couple seconds he said, ‘Guess what? You are going to be my roommate.’ I started screaming. I didn’t know for sure he’d pick KU. I thought he might be going to North Carolina,” added Wilkes, named California Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year last season after averaging 22 points, six rebounds and five assists for 27-4 Loyola.

Making the moment even better, he said, was the fact that Williams was in the Wilkes household at the time.

Reno (Nev.) High basketball standout David Padgett, right, seen with his coach and father, Pete Padgett, is headed to Kansas University. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound power forward orally committed to the Jayhawks on Wednesday.

“The greatest 40 seconds of my life,” Wilkes said.

Wilkes he joins Padgett, plus Oklahoma guards Jeremy Case and J.R. Giddens, who committed in April has known for a long time he wanted to come to KU.

“I decided late last night, but I had it in my heart since April, since I visited,” said Wilkes, who visited KU last April during the same weekend as Padgett. “Cal was an underdog, but really came on strong and was in there at the end. UCLA is a great school and program.

“It all came down to my gut said Kansas. I loved the people there when I visited, the tradition. Coach Williams is, in my opinion, the greatest coach in basketball. It will be an honor to play for him,” Wilkes added.

Padgett, meanwhile, also had a “gut feeling” about KU. The big guy took a day off from school Tuesday to contemplate his college choice.

“I was thinking about it all day,” Padgett said. “I thought all day it was the place. I couldn’t find anything wrong with it. I had some great choices in Arizona and North Carolina, but I said, ‘This is the place for me.'”

So Padgett he averaged 22.4 points and 14.3 rebounds last year for 15-13 Reno High, missing the final 12 games because of a dislocated kneecap had his decision made by 6 p.m.

“He said, ‘I want to go to Kansas,'” Reno High coach Pete Padgett said of his son. “I said, ‘Are you sure or do you want to sleep on it?’ He said, ‘I’ve slept on it a lot of nights. I’m sure.'”

Wilkes said he grew up a Los Angeles Lakers and UCLA fan.

Padgett, meanwhile, said he was partial to Duke as a youth, but also paid attention to KU’s program because of fellow Nevadan Jerod Haase, who was a standout at KU from 1994 to ’97 and now is a member of the Jayhawk staff.

David Padgett, right, of Reno, Nev., orally committed to play basketball at Kansas University on Wednesday.

Haase’s South Lake Tahoe team, in fact, played against Pete Padgett’s Carson City team when Pete coached that high school.

“It all started when Jerod was playing. We became fans of the way the Jayhawks play,” said Pete, who has coached high school ball in Nevada for over 20 years. He left Reno High after his son’s freshman year and served as an assistant at Cal Santa Barbara one season, returning to coach David for his junior campaign. “Jerod, they broke the mold after they made that kid.”

Added David Padgett, “I remember seeing him when I was young. He was a great player and is a good person.”

Another major selling point for Padgett was the fact big men Raef LaFrentz and Nick Collison have had great success in KU’s system. Padgett has been compared to both.

“It’s a compliment to hear that,” David Padgett said. “Nick and Raef are great players. Hopefully coach Williams will be able to get me to where they are. I definitely like the style of play and the fact the big men are involved in their running game.”

So is dad, Pete, a 6-8 former standout at the University of Nevada, who played college ball for his dad and David’s granddad, Jim Padgett.

“Nick Collison is a great kid,” Pete said. “The kids Roy has had represent the university so well. They’ve had a lot of success with West Coast kids there. I think that’s important. Kansas has a great reputation on the West Coast.”

Padgett and Wilkes will sign their national letters of intent on Nov. 13, the first day of the early signing period. KU, which has one more scholarship available, also has expressed interest in Wisconsin big man Brian Butch and Arkansas shooting guard Ronnie Brewer.