Report: Jayhawks back in the running for Iowa grad transfer Isaiah Moss

A little light in the backcourt and short on perimeter shooting, the Kansas men’s basketball program may be in the process of addressing both areas on the recruiting trail.

According to national college basketball writer Jeff Goodman, Iowa grad transfer Isaiah Moss has reopened his recruitment and is firmly on KU’s radar.

In fact, Goodman tweeted on Friday afternoon that “all signs point to Kansas.”

Moss, a 6-foot-5, redshirt junior from Chicago’s Simeon High School, had decided to play his final season of college eligibility at Arkansas but evidently has had a change of heart.

“After much thought and deliberation with my family, I have made the difficult decision to re-open my recruitment,” he tweeted late Friday afternoon. “I would like to thank the coaching staff at the University of Arkansas for all they have done for me. I am hopeful and excited for what the future holds for me.”

Moss visited Kansas while looking to transfer and his addition would provide KU with some much-needed 3-point shooting prowess on a roster that returns just 28 percent of its 3-point makes from a season ago.

While starting all 35 games and earning Iowa’s Most Improved Player award in 2018-19, Moss shot 42% from 3-point range, which ranked fourth in the Big Ten.

He was fifth on the team in scoring (9.2 points per game), second in steals (32) and fourth in assists (62) while reaching double figures 15 times, including eight games of 15 or more points and four games with four or more 3-pointers.

Back in May, when Moss chose Arkansas, his AAU coach, Mike Irvin, told Richard Davenport of WholeHogSports.com that Moss really started to make a name for himself during his junior and senior years on the AAU circuit and at Simeon.

“He came on late his junior and senior year,” Irvin said. “Once he came on as far as his athletic ability and ball-playing skills he was kind of late to hit the circuit. He’s always been an athletic kid that could shoot the ball, can run the floor, play defense. With him, it wasn’t a question…if he keeps working hard, he can make some money at this game.”

Wrote Goodman of a potential Moss-Kansas marriage: “If (the) Jayhawks land Moss, they fill their biggest need: Perimeter shooting.”

If Moss joins the Jayhawks, he would be the most experienced player in a Kansas backcourt that includes junior Marcus Garrett, sophomores Devon Dotson and Ochai Agbaji and freshmen Christian Braun and Issac McBride.

With three scholarships still to give out in the 2019 class, KU has more than enough room to add both Moss and prep target Jalen Wilson, a 4-star wing who visited KU last weekend and tweeted on Friday, “Stay tuned.”

Wilson’s mother, Lisa, told the Journal-World Friday morning that the family was still discussing Jalen’s options, which include KU, North Carolina and Michigan, and that she hoped they would have a decision soon.

Later Friday, Wilson revealed, via Twitter, that he would announce his decision at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

In a follow-up to his original tweet about Moss, Goodman wrote that Kansas landing Moss and Wilson would inspire him to move the Jayhawks into the No. 1 spot in his preseason poll.

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