photo by: Nick Krug

Arizona State transfer Sam Cunliffe, right, watches the action during the second half of Tuesday's game between the Jayhawks and Wildcats.

Mid-year Arizona State transfer Sam Cunliffe won’t be eligible to play in games until mid-December, by which time he will have had a year in the program. All that practice time will make him more ready for games than a freshman would be and it will be interesting to see him work his way into the lineup.

A native of Seattle, will have to work even harder for minutes if Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk withdraws his name from the draft and returns for his senior season.

What can we expect to see from the 6-foot-6, 200-pound wing who shot .308 on 2-point shots and .405 on 3-pointers?

“He’s really, really athletic, really athletic, good shooter, doesn’t really know how to play yet without the ball, so the year (of practice) will definitely help him do that,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I think he’s going to be a really good college player, without question. I don’t know how soon he’ll have the impact. I see similarities that I saw with Lagerald (Vick) early in his career. He’s athletic like that.”

Cunliffe averaged 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 25.4 minutes in the 10 games he played for Arizona State before deciding to transfer.

Cunliffe has such an effortless look to his smooth, acrobatic dunks, as shown in the following video.