Kansas University basketball recruiting

It’s still early, and there’s a lot of basketball to be played and recruiting to be done before anything becomes official.

But the Kansas basketball program already seems to be in better shape than ever for 6-foot-8 forward Chandler Lawson, one of the top players in the Class of 2019.

The reason?

Lawson’s two older brothers, Dedric and K.J., just recently became Jayhawks, furthering the younger Lawson’s love of a school that already registered high marks on his radar.

“I always liked Kansas,” Chandler Lawson recently told Matt Scott of TheShiver.com. “They have always been on my list. Now they have made a way for me.”

With Dedric and K.J. transferring to KU from Memphis during the offseason, the two older Lawson brothers will have to sit out the 2017-18 season and first will be eligible during the 2018-19 season. That will be Chandler Lawson’s senior season in high school.

Because Dedric has the potential to turn pro after his first season in Lawrence — after averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis last season, he probably could be a first-round pick in this year’s draft — it’s a bit of a longshot that the trio will ever play together in Lawrence should Chandler decide to commit to KU.

But the odds are better that Chandler, a 4-star prospect currently ranked No. 34 in the 2019 class by Rivals.com, and K.J. would get a chance to play together as Jayhawks if the younger Lawson elects to come to Kansas.

Regardless of what the future holds for his own career, Chandler told Scott that he would be keeping a closer eye on the Kansas program now that he has two terrific reasons to pay even more attention than he already did.

“I think it’s great for them,” Chandler told Scott of his brothers heading to Kansas. “I think it gives them a better chance at their future. They can be around more people that are focused on basketball, and be around more people that want to get better and make each other better.”

If Chandler does wind up joining his brothers as Jayhawks a couple of years from now, all eyes then would shift toward the 2021 class, where Jonathan, the youngest of the Lawson brothers, already has opened eyes as one of the most talented players in the country in that class.

It might still be a couple of years still before any of them can suit up in crimson and blue when the games count for real, but there’s no disputing that the Lawson name is one worth committing to memory for fans of Kansas basketball.

Both Dedric and K.J. will be eligible to play with the Jayhawks this summer in Italy and also will be allowed to practice with the team throughout the 2017-18 season. Chandler told Scott he likely would make his way to Lawrence for a few games next season and may even make it to Late Night in the Phog, where his brothers would be able to participate in the team scrimmage that kicks off the 2017-18 season.