2010 prospect Woolridge commits to KU

Royce Woolridge, a 6-2 sophomore guard from Sunnyslope High in Phoenix, Ariz., made his verbal commitment to play basketball at Kansas University official in a news conference held at his school.

Woolridge, the son of former NBA player Orlando Woolridge, becomes KU’s first known commitment beyond the 2008 class.

“Kansas is where I want to go, Kansas is the best fit for me,” Woolridge said Thursday from his high school.

Woolridge had also considered Arizona, Georgetown, Cal, UCLA and Arizona State.

For more on this story, stay tuned to KUSports.com and read Friday’s Journal-World.

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Royce Woolridge, a 6-foot-2 high school sophomore shooting guard from Sunnyslope High in Phoenix, Ariz., has called a late afternoon news conference to announce his intention to attend Kansas University on basketball scholarship.

Woolridge, the son of former NBA player Orlando Woolridge, averaged 16.0 points a game this past season for Sunnyslope High.

He is the half brother of Tennessee signee Renaldo Woolridge.

Royce’s mom, Victoria, confirmed to the Journal-World her son’s decision was KU, but he wished to “talk loud and clear about his decision” at the press conference.

Woolridge performed well at last weekend’s Double Pump Las Vegas spring tournament for Arizona Magic AAU. He impressed with his ability to shoot the ball well beyond the arc.

“His biggest strength is definitely his shooting, especially from behind the arc. He gets his shot off with relative ease and can get the shot out over defenders,” wrote Jason Scheer of GOAZCATS.com, a Rivals website. “He gets to the rim well and if he continues to improve, he is going to be one of the better scorers at his age level. It really is a matter of height and if that height is not a problem for coaches, we expect him to get plenty of offers.”

Woolridge had considered Arizona, Georgetown, Cal, UCLA and Arizona State among others.

“It feels great to get attention from all these schools. Right now I like Kansas a lot because of the tradition they have,” he told GOAZCATS.com last week. “I’m just looking at a school I can get a good education at, so if basketball doesn’t work out I can still do something that will take me somewhere in life,” he told Scheer.

Woolridge described himself as a “slasher” with a great desire to win.