photo by: Journal-World illustration

University of Kansas basketball recruiting

Wednesday marks the start of college basketball’s spring signing period and the Kansas men’s basketball program is poised to officially add a couple of its new additions this week.

Junior college transfer Sydney Curry, a 6-foot-8, 265-pound sophomore forward from Logan Community College in Carterville, Ill., and Drake transfer Joseph Yesufu are planning to sign their letters of intent on Wednesday.

Yesufu, a 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore, committed to KU last week after a solid season in which he averaged 12.8 points per game for the Bulldogs, including a mark of 23.2 points per game during the final nine games of the season.

A jet-quick and athletic scorer who can shoot from the outside and finish at the rim, Yesufu comes to KU with three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Curry committed to Kansas back on Thanksgiving, shortly before the Jayhawks tipped off the 2020-21 season with a game against Gonzaga in Fort Myers, Fla.

He chose KU over Texas A&M, Mississippi, Seton Hall and others after initially being committed to Miami (Ohio) out of high school in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Known for his size and power down low, Curry told the Journal-World that he likes to “attack to the rim” but is also willing to “do whatever it takes to win.”

In 19 games so far this season, Curry has averaged 13.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game on 68.8% shooting. Logan, which will compete in the upcoming NJCAA tournament April 19-24 in Hutchinson, is 18-4 overall. As a freshman, Curry averaged 13.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while hitting 74% of his shots.

Prep guard Bobby Pettiford Jr., told JayhawkSlant.com on Monday that he plans to sign his letter of intent on Friday.

The former Louisville commitment, who committed to Kansas on March 30, is ranked in the Top 100 in the 2021 recruiting class by both ESPN and 247 Sports. He chose KU over Providence, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, Texas A&M, Hampton and others.

Prior to de-committing from Louisville after a coaching change, the 6-1, 170-pound guard from Creedmoor, N.C., earned conference player of the year honors for the second consecutive season.

Missouri Southern State transfer Cam Martin, a three-time Division II All-American who starred for former Jayhawk Jeff Boschee’s squad for the past three seasons also plans to make his commitment official this week.

Martin committed to KU on March 31.

Martin is expected to sign his letter of intent sometime this week, as well. He chose KU over Texas, UNLV, Creighton, Georgetown, Colorado State and Stetson.

The 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward who played high school basketball with former Oklahoma and current Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young, averaged 25 points and 9 rebounds per game this season for Boschee’s squad, knocking in 58% of his field goals and 45% of his 3-point attempts on 110 shots.

Curry, Martin, Pettiford and Yesufu will join previously signed prep standouts K.J. Adams and Zach Clemence in KU’s 2021 class. And the Jayhawks remain in the mix to add at least another player or two, with prep guard TyTy Washington and Creighton transfer Christian Bishop among their top options at the moment.

The spring signing period runs through Aug. 1 and Kansas has one open scholarship remaining after the recent departures of Tristan Enaruna, Tyon Grant-Foster, Latrell Jossell and Gethro Muscadin into the transfer portal.

Jayhawk starters Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson also both recently declared their intentions to test their NBA draft stock while retaining their college eligibility.

Should either player elect to stay in the draft, that would open up more scholarships for KU to hand out ahead of the 2021-22 season.