photo by: Journal-World Illustration

University of Kansas basketball recruiting

According to a Friday afternoon report from 247 Sports recruiting analyst Evan Daniels, the lone player committed to Kansas in the Class of 2019 is now uncommitted.

Markese Jacobs, a Chicago senior ranked No. 92 in the class by Rivals.com, told Daniels that he was reopening his recruitment and still considering Kansas.

Jacobs, 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, committed to Kansas shortly after making an unofficial visit to Late Night two years ago and has remained committed to Kansas and a strong supporter of the Jayhawks via social media throughout the past 24 months.

“I’m open to see what I get and pretty much go from there,” Jacobs told Daniels. “I just want to really make sure I’m in the best situation for myself. I want to find my best situations. The relationship with (KU assistant) Jerrance [Howard] was really tight, but my whole thing is I want to put myself in the best situation.”

KUsports.com recruiting insider Matt Scott said Friday’s news came as no surprise in recruiting circles.

“Not a big one,” Scott said. “I think with the additions of Devon Dotson and Charlie Moore to the roster, Kansas appears to be pretty set at the point guard position and I think Markese wants to go somewhere that he can make an immediate impact. When he committed two years ago, no one knew what the Kansas roster would look like by the time Markese would arrive on campus.”

As of 2:30 p.m. Friday, Jacobs’ Twitter profile still included the words “Kansas commit” and “#RockChalk” but the explosive point guard from Chicago also retweeted Daniels’ story about his plans to reopen his recruitment.

According to Daniels, Jacobs averaged 13.4 points and 2.3 assists in 16 Nike EYBL games with the Mac Irvin Fire this spring and summer.

Despite Jacobs’ decision, the Jayhawks remain in the running for a couple of higher-ranked Class of 2019 point guards, including The Villages, Fla., senior Tre Mann (6-4, 170), who recently scheduled an official visit and in-home visit with Kansas, and No. 2-ranked player Cole Anthony (6-2, 180), who played for KU coach Bill Self on the U18 Team USA squad at the FIBA Americas event this summer.

Mann is ranked No. 30 in the Class of 2019 by Rivals.com, and both he and Anthony, the son of former UNLV and NBA star Greg Anthony, are notably bigger and longer than Jacobs.

As Scott noted, the Jayhawks also could elect to stay away from a point guard in the 2019 class, which features Top 10 forwards Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Matthew Hurt at the top of KU’s wish list and also includes shooting guards Samuell Williamson and Josh Green, among others.

One player worth mentioning who is flying under the radar a bit is 3-star point guard Isaac McBride. The 6-foot, 160-pound guard from Little Rock, Ark., has drawn comparisons to former KU guard Frank Mason III and also made a name for himself with a strong showing this summer in Las Vegas.

It remains to be seen just how big KU’s 2019 class will be, but there is potential for Self and company to take as few as two or three players in the 2019 class or as many as five or six.