Kansas University basketball recruiting

Bol Bol, a 6-foot-11 sophomore forward from Roeland Park’s Bishop Miege High who is ranked No. 10 in the recruiting Class of 2018 by Rivals.com, enjoyed stopping by Kansas University on Friday and attending Late Night for the first time. He checked out the new $12 million McCarthy Hall, new apartment complex for KU players.

“One thing I like about Kansas are the new dorms,” Bol told Jayhawkslant.com. “I have never seen anything like the new dorms before.”

McCarthy Hall — which houses 16 basketball players, 17 other students not affiliated with the basketball program — with two beds downstairs for guests and one for the RA, were built to help in recruiting. Kentucky has a similar dorm for its players. However, there’s another reason for construction, coach Bill Self said Friday.

“Over time it will definitely add to the student-athlete experience,” Self said. “What a lot of people don’t understand … what ‘Wigs’ (Andrew Wiggins) went through here is unprecedented as far as campus. He could never leave the room (at Jayhawker Towers) without somebody waiting on him. You have agents, runners and have no control over the dormitory situation. You have pro autograph-seekers waiting outside his dorm room all the time, no security.

“This new deal will allow players to have a normal student life. People can’t get to them. To me that’s the best thing about it. That was the biggest reason we tried to do something. We’ll be able to track future guys here, and they can get privacy, which Wigs had absolutely zero. He handled it remarkably well because of the (lack of) privacy he had.”

Self said at McCarthy Hall, “You can’t get to the second or third floor without a fingerprint or card. You can’t borrow somebody’s code. I can’t get up there. I’ve got to have somebody let me in. Anybody can get in the building and get buzzed in. After you get buzzed in, you can’t go any further than that.”