Kansas University basketball recruiting

Tucker Vang will join the Kansas men’s basketball team as a walk-on, KU coach Bill Self announced Monday.

The guard will be entering his junior year at KU and will start practicing with the Jayhawks when the fall 2016 semester begins in August.

“Tucker has been around the program for a year, practicing against the (KU) women’s team. We’ve been able to watch him from afar,” Self said. “I think he’ll be a nice addition and will give us some depth during practice.”

Vang, 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, from Goddard, comes from a long line of KU athletes. His father, Pete, played tight end for the Jayhawks from 1990-93 and his uncle, Shawn, was a guard on the football team from 1995-98. Vang’s mother, Tara, is also a KU graduate.

Tucker Vang

“I tried out my freshman year and stayed in touch with the coaches,” Vang said of KU’s walk-on tryouts. “I played with the women’s team last year and with Evan (Manning) graduating, they had an open spot.”

Prior to KU, Vang was a three-sport standout at Goddard High School. Besides basketball, he competed in football and golf for the Lions. On the court, Vang averaged 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists his senior season, earning all-league honors in 2014. A second-team all-league quarterback in football, Vang was the United States Marine Corp Distinguished Athlete Award recipient in 2014. He had a 4.0 grade point average and was a four-time academic honor roll honoree while at Goddard.

“As a little kid, I always wanted to put on a KU jersey and be a part of something like that,” Vang said. “Now I get the opportunity to live it.”

In addition to his aforementioned Kansas Athletics ties, Vang’s grandfather, Randy, played football at Wichita State and his uncle, Scott, played football at Iowa.

The Journal-World reported last week that Vang would be added to the team roster as a walk-on.