photo by: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Utah forward Keanu Dawes shoots during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kansas State, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in Manhattan.

Keanu Dawes, a 6-foot-9 transfer forward who has played at Rice and Utah, is on his way to Lawrence to visit Kansas, his agent Brandon Grier confirmed to the Journal-World on Tuesday afternoon.

Dawes averaged 12.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists for the Runnin’ Utes as he started all 32 games during the 2025-26 season, his junior year. The news of his visit was first reported by Shay Wildeboor of JayhawkSlant.com, and Dawes told Wildeboor from the airport on Tuesday, “I’m headed to Kansas for a visit, and I can’t wait. My flight gets in later today, and I think that my visit lasts for a couple of days.”

Dawes is from Houston and began his career at Rice, where he started 23 of 32 games as a true freshman and averaged 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 23.6 minutes. He made the move to Utah as a sophomore and contributed to the Utes’ frontcourt off the bench. He initially entered the portal after that season, when Utah changed coaches from Craig Smith to Alex Jensen, but ultimately came back for another season with the Utes for 2025-26.

Now he’s looking around for a place to spend his senior year, much like his former Utah teammate Terrence Brown, a guard who visited North Carolina on Monday, and who is also expected to make it to KU later in the week, as the Journal-World reported.

It’s already a busy week for the Jayhawks as they look to secure their first commitments in the transfer portal. KU’s first set of visits opened on Monday with the reported arrivals of forward DeSean Goode (Robert Morris) and guard Terrence Hill Jr. (VCU). Now the week will continue with Dawes and Brown as well as, according to multiple reports, Charlotte transfer center Anton Bonke coming up on Wednesday.