photo by: AP Photo/Andy Manis

Wisconsin's AJ Storr (2) against Rutgers' Jeremiah Williams (25) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Madison, Wis.

Updated 4:21 p.m. Thursday:

The Kansas men’s basketball team secured the services of one of the portal’s most highly coveted players, Wisconsin transfer AJ Storr, on Thursday afternoon.

“With great excitement and humility, I announce my commitment to the University of Kansas Basketball program,” Storr wrote in a post on X. “Joining the Jayhawks is a dream realized, and I’m incredibly honored for this opportunity to be a part of the tradition and culture of Kansas Basketball.”

The Athletic’s Shams Charania, who first reported Storr’s commitment, noted that Storr picked the Jayhawks over Arkansas, Illinois and Texas. Storr had also written in his portal-entry announcement last month that he wanted to “engage and experience the NBA Draft process,” but when KU announced Storr’s official signing later on Thursday, head coach Bill Self said in a press release that he “pulled his name out of the (NBA) draft.”

The addition of Storr, a 6-foot-7 wing ranked as the No. 9 transfer by Rivals and No. 3 by 247Sports, means yet another accomplished offensive piece among the Jayhawks’ ranks. In his lone season at Wisconsin, he averaged 16.8 points per game as the seventh-ranked scorer in the Big Ten Conference, to go along with 3.9 rebounds.

While not as proficient a long-range shooter last season as, say, KU’s previous transfer acquisition Zeke Mayo, Storr did go 48-for-150 (32%) during the 2023-24 campaign. In his freshman year at St. John’s, though, Storr shot 40.4% from long range, albeit in a smaller sample size.

That first year with the Red Storm, Storr was an all-freshman pick in the Big East Conference; his sophomore season he was second-team All-Big Ten. Moving to a new school is nothing unfamilar for Storr; according to the Rockford (Illinois) Register Star, he spent time at five separate high schools, beginning with Rockford Lutheran and ending with IMG Academy, where he was a four-star prospect. Now he will move to his third college.

While a native of Rockford, Storr has represented the Bahamas internationally, including in a pair of games against KU on the Jayhawks’ summer tour of Puerto Rico last August. In those games he averaged 15 points and five rebounds.

“We feel AJ will fit in well with our style of play,” Self said in the release. “He comes from a winning program at Wisconsin. He actually visited Kansas out of high school when he was at IMG Academy.”

Because Storr is a wing with length, his addition helps protect KU from the possibility that Johnny Furphy will remain in the draft and go to the NBA. The Jayhawks are now at the maximum of 13 scholarship players, or one below at 12 if Furphy leaves. (KU also officially signed Zeke Mayo on Thursday.)

They may not be done in the portal, as Shay Wildeboor of JayhawkSlant.com has reported they had an in-home visit with Alabama transfer Rylan Griffen last weekend and that he is expected to visit KU this coming weekend.