NEW YORK — Josh Selby ended the suspense Saturday night.
The 6-foot-3 Selby confirmed during the Jordan Brand Classic at Madison Square Garden what many had suspected.
“I’m gonna be a Kansas Jayhawk,” Selby, a senior from Baltimore (Md.) Lake Clifton High, told the crowd. “I think that’s the best place for me to mature and get to the next level.”
Selby averaged 32 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds at Lake Clifton and won the slam dunk contest at the McDonald’s All-American Game.
The No. 2 point guard in the Class of 2010 according to Rivals, he chose Kansas over Kentucky, UConn, Arizona and Tennessee.
Selby said Kansas coach Bill Self was a major factor in his decision.
“He kind of reminds me of myself. His personality. He’s very outgoing. He’s a great coach and he’s gonna get the job done,” Selby said.
Selby will join a team that is losing Sherron Collins, Xavier Henry and Cole Aldrich to the NBA. He will be asked to step in and fill Collins’ scoring and play-making ability from the start.
Selby initially committed to Tennessee and then decommitted and opened it up.
Selby and his mother, Maeshon Witherspoon, remain close with Tennessee assistant Steve Forbes and The New York Times reported on Saturday that Selby’s last visit from a college coach came from Forbes, fueling speculation that he might land with the Vols after all.
Instead, he’s headed to to Kansas.
How long he remains, however, is another question.
Selby recently told a Kentucky newspaper, “Every player in every class wants to be one-and-done. And I can’t lie. I want to be one.”
One NBA scout predicts Selby could have a long and fruitful pro career.
“Josh has the physical tools and the talent to play 12 years in the league,” the scout said.
(Photo courtesy Danny Wild)
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NCAA Hoops / April 17, 2010
I am just glad this kid did not allow Bruce Pearl to stunt his growth as a basketball player.
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bigpapijugg / April 17, 2010
maybe he should next announce how he or his mom can afford a benz. kinda shady that he drives that nice of a car when he comes from a single mom family
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BostonCat / April 17, 2010
great player and good spot for him. no surprise by his decision.
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RockChalkWoody / April 17, 2010
Jessiewildcat, you can start eating crow now. FYI Bill Self can still recruit (looking forward to Terrence Jones visiting Lawrence too).
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ChicagoUK / April 18, 2010
The only question is how will the Benz get to Lawrence? Shipped or will he drive it down?
JUST KIDDING.
Congratulations to KU, a great pickup. Considering that Selby’s mom keeps a picture of that TN Asst coach on her desk, Self and staff really came through on this one.
I’d love to see UK vs. KU in the tournament next year.
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RockChalkWoody / April 18, 2010
I can’t wait to see the Benz rolling down Naismith Dr.
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kujayhawk08 / April 18, 2010
Too all of you unknowledgeable idiots, Jesse wildcat guy, and all of you other morons on here, stop talking, selby to kansas, told you from day 1, Arizona tradition is not going to live on, laugh out loud.. Lamb and Brandon Knight aren’t going to lead a team to any final fours, loading up on these freshmen isn’t going to help Kentucky, cya Kentucky tradition, both programs, done.
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ArizCats / April 18, 2010
kujayhawk08, pretty aggressive. Are you done?
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kujayhawk08 / April 18, 2010
you want me to be done? Did you read any of the stuff you guys were saying? Zero resources, just making stuff up about lamb and selby… funny they even had you on their list
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blasphemy / April 18, 2010
I’m not on here to start a fight, but your comments leave me no choice….. our freshmen went further than your “leadership” in the past tourney. nuff said.
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blasphemy / April 18, 2010
Be fair dude. Those three don’t represent “every” poster. Some of them were actually a fair bunch. Kind of like how you don’t represent jhawk, whom I respect. Get real bro.
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jhawk4 / April 18, 2010
KUjayhawk08- give it a rest. you just did the exact thing that the overzealous Arizona and UK fans said to piss you off. let it go. Kentucky is going to be good next year, and every year under Cal. just accept it.
A KU UK matchup next year would be interesting, although not nearly as titanic as last years would have been. Selby/Taylor/Johnson vs Knight/Lamb/Miller is a intriguing backcourt matchup. The frontcourt is where KU has a big advantage right now, but if UK signs Jones or Leslie then that becomes alot less of an advantage for KU.
should be fun!
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HallBall / April 18, 2010
LOL Kansas,as soon as I saw your post the same thing ran through my mind. For the past three months we hace been seeing these “Zona” guys go on and on about why Lamb and McCallum will commit now all I should hear Is silence. SSSHHH……..
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ZonaWildcat / April 18, 2010
^^^^THIS^^^^
Get a clue dude!
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ZonaWildcat / April 18, 2010
Aren’t you guys losing 3 starters this year to the draft? From what I can tell you only have 2 recruits coming in this year; Selby and Woolridge. Only Selby is a recruit I would brag about.
Kentucky of course is gonna have a completely different team than last year so it will be interesting to see how both teams fair this upcoming year. Both will be good, but number 1 and number 2 in the nation? I don’t think so!
Arizona and Kansas isn’t a Kentucky and Kansas match-up, but we will be playing you this year. Should be an interesting game.
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tsmooth / April 18, 2010
royce woolridge is a very underreted guard. he can score in bunches. KU didn’t need to add a lot because they still have a lot of talent.
can’t wait for the Memphis-KU showdown this year when the talent is gonna be the same for each team
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jhawk4 / April 18, 2010
Zona Wildcat-
who said KU UK will be 1 and 2 in the nation? I certainly did not. They wont be, but that doesn’t mean they wont be good. perhaps you misread my post that said the matchup is “not nearly as titanic as last years”
and yes we lose 3 starters, but bring back a solid group of guys including 2 guys that will be 3 year starters next year (Taylor and Mc morris, who is a early candidate for conference POTY) 2 top 30 recruits from 09 that didn’t see much time year because of our depth (Johnson and Robinson), 2 guys who redshirted last year that had an impact in 09 (Releford and Little), 3 solid role players (Reed and Morningstar and Mk morris). add in a scoring guard in Selby and that is easily a top 10 or 15 team.
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jayhawkfan11 / April 18, 2010
I am in shock of all the Arizona fans coming on here and talking trash on Kentucky, Kansas, etc.
Did Arizona finish above .500 last year? In the weakest PAC-10 conference arguably ever, Arizona still finishes with a crummy record.
No surprise that you ‘Zona fans dont like Royce Woolridge or Jeff Withey. Since most of you would have given your right arm to land Woolridge since he is from the state of Arizona. The guy has averaged 31ppg and 28ppg the last two years in high school. Withey was smart enough to transfer out of the place.
I dont really like Kentucky fans all that much but at least they have reason to boast about their program and team.
When Arizona starts getting good in state recruits, or makes the big dance, come back and talk to us.
I know, I know….Sean Miller is God and will win 20 national titles….blah blah blah.
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HallBall / April 18, 2010
I dont think the word Selby should even be uttered by you Zona fans at all…
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HallBall / April 18, 2010
Lol Same thing I stated a while ago but Zona fans will be Zona fans, dumb and defensive…..
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kujayhawk08 / April 18, 2010
Where is Jesse wildcat?! I want to hear what this Arizona fan has to say!
Arizona fans, you make this too easy for us, lol…..
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OldTerp / April 18, 2010
The 5-star recruits keep announcing later & later, don’t they? I thought that was odd at first, because most know they’re one & done, so their choice of college is probably just about how many times they can get on TV.
Now I see it’s an effective way to keep their names in print on a daily basis for months at a time. It’s more about the constant hype & marketing exposure, and I commend their advisors for using the internet so effectively.
But, congrats to KU and UK fans; your teams both landed some good players and you’ve kept us all entertained with some very creative trash-talking on this blog. Having said that, I’ve been missing Pastaboy’s verbal hand grenades – come back to the party, my friend.
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RockChalkWoody / April 18, 2010
UK fans, congrats on Lamb–he looks like he’ll be a solid #2 and he’ll probably stick around for a couple of years (unless he blows up like Beldsoe did).
As for Jessiewildcat, can one of his UA buddies go over to his parent’s house & make sure he’s still alive in their basement? I really miss his analysis on how EVERY recruit said no to KU.
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UAWildcat / April 18, 2010
Woolridge is not the best 2010 recruit from Arizona. Daniel Bejanaro is and he is going to UA. Then you have Stoglin and Hershey that I believe are better than Woolridge too. I have seen all of these players play more than just watching highlight clips.
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blasphemy / April 18, 2010
I hope I never have to see pasta again. I am a Kentucky Fan.
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CatsFan1 / April 18, 2010
All of you fucks need to get the fuck over yourselves. Cool Kansas you guys got Josh Selby. This goes to everyone, KU fans, UK fans and even some of the retarded Arizona fans on here. First of all enough with the Jessiewildcat shit. He is an abomination to ALL Arizona Fans. Why do you think he’s been banned from every single Arizona fansite there is? Next enough with the shit talking. Cool, we had a bad year, yeah lets poke fun at their first bad season in 26 years. Were we talking shit to you UK fans when Gillespie shit the bed? NO! And Kansas fans you guys are so f’ucking arrogant. You guys need to quit talking sh!t because you have a good recruiting class. Cool you were right about Selby all along… Every Arizona fan that is not retarded like the guys on this site knew he was going to KU all along. And lastly Arizona fans… You guys are idiots. Do you really think that we were going to get a commitment from these guys? Do some research before you come here and post on why you think these guys are going to come to UA.
That is all
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jlvlawrence / April 18, 2010
wow!
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HallBall / April 18, 2010
And the Arizona family fight begins…Lol
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Tophawk1983 / April 18, 2010
Haha. You called KU fans arrogant then explained why we should be. Thanks man! Kentucky fans, tell me this: let’s suppose for a second that three or four years down the line UK is still getting top 5 classes every year, puts 3-5 frosh or sophomores in the draft every year but doesn’t make a final four. Are you content with Calipari not being able to keep his players there long enough to win it all? I’m not looking for a fight just wondering your thoughts because if I was a UK fan I know I’d be nervous about the amazing turnover that may happen there each year.
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Zonafan3 / April 18, 2010
We all knew Selby, McCallum, and Lamb were not going to commit to Az. Who cares? And for everyone who thinks Az is not on the rise, boy do you have a lot to learn. Selby is driving a benz from coach bc he needed Selby. We didn’t. I am set on our recruiting class and our future. We will see this year who is wrong and right when Kansas and Zona play. Im not going to say we win but it should be a good game.
Real Zona fans knew all this shit and for everyone to just start talking shit bc you have nothing better to do cracks me up. Hate all you want but we didn’t lose to NIU in the 2nd round this year and say what you want about us not making the tournament but it’s been 26 years. Sorry.
Wait until Sean Miller gets on his grind. Az is nowhere close to done. U realize in less than a year he has gotten committments from 8 guys and we are in the hunt for Kadeem Jack and Eloy Vargas? Call it what you want but as soon as Millers establishes himself in Tucson and gets a little time to recruit and not play catch up, Az is back there with Kansas.
Congrats on Selby, he’ll be a good player.
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RockChalkWoody / April 18, 2010
Yeah, Zonfan3, KU needed Selby so bad that a bunch of us ran over to Mercedes Benz of Kansas City & pooled our $$$ together and sent Josh a little present. You’re an idiot.
And then you run your mouth about Northern Iowa & your school couldn’t even get invited to the Not Invited Tournament. You can have your bs 26 yr record–we’ll be passing that one anyway.
Oh, and you’re not the only one looking forward to KU & UA in Vegas. Momo might wanna bring his “A” game if he plans on staying with Selby.
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CatsFan1 / April 18, 2010
RockChoadeWoody
You are up there with fucking jessiewildcat.. Take two steps back and fuck yourself. You talk so much fucking shit and it gets annoying. Everyone knows your probably going to beat us. But do i have high hopes that we will win? FUCK to the yes… Enough with the shit talking. Momo Jones is someone we can build a program around because he will stay for all 4 years and will contribute. Something that Selby cannot do. Sure he will do big things in his one year here but honestly shut the fuck up. We all know how might KU is and have a solid program.
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CatsFan1 / April 18, 2010
no i actually didn’t explain why you should be arrogant Tophawk.. I justified the fact that you are an excellent established program.
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jayhawkfan11 / April 18, 2010
Rock Chalk.
Of course you guys think Woolridge is the 4th or 5th best recruit in Arizona, because he didnt go to your school. Gimme a break.
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azd / April 18, 2010
and you think he is the best from AZ because he is attending your school….. :/
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azd / April 18, 2010
yes… enjoy passing our streak when the field is expanded to 96 teams and everyone and their little sisters makes the big dance. quite the accomplishment…
but i am looking forward to the vegas game. should be interesting.
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beardown3232 / April 18, 2010
I guess we’ll just have to wait till next year when Arizona plays KU to decide which one is better.
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UAWildcat / April 19, 2010
If you look at all of the recruiting services you will see that they too think Woolridge is not the best Arizona product. I know it is hard for some to believe that one could make an unbaised comment on here but I don’t hate KU. Yes I am a UA fan but I also like other schools like KU, Georgetown, Syracuse, Siena and the list can go on. If you noticed I also listed a future scum devil ahead of Woolridge too which is like a KU fan admitting a Mizzou player is good.
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jhawk4 / April 19, 2010
Holy cow catsfan, calm down man. don’t let what people say get under your skin so much, were all fans of different schools and therefore never going to see exactly eye to eye on things. im not sure why your so frustrated, but lay off the personal attacks.
I know some of the things Woody says can be upsetting to rival schools, but 99% of the time the things he says are responses to insane posters like jessie and the occasional over excited UK poster. If he isn’t provoked he probably isn’t going to start anything. I am willing to guess that woody has been waiting a long time to unleash on jessie, and rightfully so. cut him some slack.
Good luck to you and zona in the future. it’s all good. look forward to talking to you in november
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HallBall / April 19, 2010
Lol Scum Devil thats classical…
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CatsFan1 / April 19, 2010
Jhawk i appreciate your rationality… It’s actually refreshing to see someone on this board that is not personally attacking another program. I am sorry to all if i offended you. I truely am, i am just upset with the fact that all Kentucky fans and most Kansas fans that post on here feel the need to bring up our 16-15 record… I’m not retarded, I watched every game this year, I know their record.
Let’s just hope that now everyone pretty much committed Jessie will find another board to troll..
Again I am sorry if i came off as an angry fuck, I’m just a diehard Catfan..
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MemphisMo23 / April 19, 2010
Congrats on landing Selby, everyone should have known he was going there anyway unless they don’t really keep up with recruiting and just go off the hopeful and blind comments of posters on fan boards. Hopefully him and Coach Self can sway T. Jones to committ as well.
I have alot of respect for KU and its basketball program and can’t wait for that KU vs UofM matchup either this year, the last two games were very good just hopefully we can win this one. Will and Josh big time baller cousins going at it should be another classic with even talent levels this time around.
The Benz was his coaches so you can kill all that extra $#!T.
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RockChalkWoody / April 19, 2010
MemphisMo23, it should be a fun game–it’s at Madison Square Garden, right? Pastner brought in some great talent & you guys probably should’ve won the game in St. Louis this past year. Barton vs. Selby will be electric.
I don’t know if Self can get T. Jones or not. KU has a lot of depth so he’s going to have to do a great sales job to land him.
Don’t worry about the Benz talk…people will jump all over it no matter what the truth is. No biggie.
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