Three newcomers await NCAA word

Kansas University freshmen basketball players Braeden Anderson, Ben McLemore and Jamari Traylor have yet to arrive on campus as they await word on their eligibility from the NCAA clearinghouse, coach Bill Self said Sunday night.

“The NCAA requested more information since they (each) attended multiple high schools, and we provided the information, and hopefully they’ll have a decision real soon,” Self said of the NCAA ruling on academic eligibility of the trio.

Each of the Jayhawk signees attended three high schools.

McLemore, a 6-foot-5 guard from St. Louis, started at Wellston High in his hometown. Last year, he attended both Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., and Christian Life Center in Houston.

Anderson, a 6-9 forward from Alberta, Canada, started at a high school in Canada. He attended Christian Faith Center in Raleigh, N.C., as a junior and Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Massachusetts as a senior. He withdrew from the Wilbraham, Mass., school in February and finished his degree by taking an online class at home in Canada.

Traylor, a 6-8 forward from Chicago, attended Fenger High and Julian High in his hometown. He attended IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., last year.

“Those kids have been to more than two (schools). They’ve been to three. When you do that, you’ve got to go back and check everything. They have to evaluate everything, re-evaluate everything. We understand that,” Self said. “Nothing has been done that we didn’t understand. We hoped it’d be done before. They (NCAA) needed some additional information. It’s our job to provide them that information.”

A year ago, freshman Josh Selby was in a similar situation as the clearinghouse examined his high school coursework.

He was allowed by the NCAA to start attending class on Sept. 7 as the clearinghouse continued to look into his transcripts and grades.

He ultimately was cleared academically on Oct. 27. Selby elected not to attend classes before getting cleared because in the case of not being cleared, the student-athlete is responsible for tuition and room and board.

Classes on KU’s campus started a week ago today.

“We told them, ‘Don’t come (to campus) until the NCAA had a chance to review everything and re-evaluate it,”’ Self said. “Hopefully we’ll get word as soon as we can.”