Bill Self Expects Doyle, Adams to Qualify

Kansas coach Bill Self says incoming freshmen Milton Doyle and Anrio Adams (pictured courtesy Rivals) are both qualified, but he’s still awaiting word from the NCAA Clearinghouse on them.

And that may not happen until September or October.

“Based on our information, all our kids have qualified,” Self told SNY.tv Thursday by phone. “But the NCAA still has to put their stamp on it, so I’m not going to make any judgments on that, even though we have no reason to be concerned at all right now.”

Adams is a 6-foot-3 combo guard from Rainier Beach High in Seattle who signed a grant-in-aid agreement to play at Kansas and Doyle is a 6-4 combo guard from Chicago Marshall High.

Self said he expects Elijah Johnson to be the team’s point guard next season, but that both Adams and Doyle can help out in the backcourt.

“Hopefully, they bring quality depth,” Self said. “The combination of them two can give us at league 20 minutes or more a game. That’s what I’m hoping for. I like our returning players. I think Elijah’s solid at the point, but we need somebody to be able to back him up and also play some minutes at the other spot.

“So those two collectively should be able to provide that for us.”

Kansas lost Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor to the NBA Draft, but returns Johnson, Travis Releford, Jeff Withey and Kevin Young

Adams and Doyle join an incoming class for the NCAA runners-up that includes Perry Ellis, Landen Lucas, Zach Peters and Andrew White.

Redshirt freshmen Ben McLemore and Jamari Traylor also join the team along with freshmen walk-ons Evan Manning and Tyler Self.

Adams averaged 23.0 points and 6.0 assists a game last season and was named Associated Press Class 3A player-of-the-year honors in the state of Washington.

“Anybody who sees that kid. He has … oh my goodness, the kid is so talented,” Rainier Beach coach Mike Bethea told the Journal-World. “He is gifted with the ball. He had three to four double-assist games for us. He knows how to get people the ball in the right position and knows how to score as well.”

Doyle averaged 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals a game his senior season.

“I call him the quiet assassin,” Marshall High coach Henry Cotton told the Chicago Tribune. “He just goes about his job relentlessly. If he had waited (until second semester instead of committing to FIU) he could have gone anywhere he wanted to, but he was loyal to the people who showed him interest when no one else did. That’s the way he is.”

Cotton told the Tribune that Doyle comes up big during clutch time.

“The one thing I learned coaching him this year was that when he wants to score, when he really wants to score, he’s going to score,” said Cotton, whose team won 3A regional and sectional titles. “He will find a way. He will get to the rim. He will knock down mid-range shots, pull up, go get a teammate’s miss and put back an offensive rebound. He’s an exciting talent, a natural player who does things you can’t teach. What I’m looking forward to seeing is what he becomes when a college program develops his body.”

FREE THROWS

Kansas travels to Paris and Switzerland Aug. 6-14 and here is their schedule, courtesy the Journal-World.

• vs. Swiss National Team, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 7 p.m., at Halle St. Leonard in Fribourg, Switzerland
• vs. Swiss National Team, 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 8 at Halle St Leonard in Fribourg, Switzerland
• vs. Select Team of French Pro A / Pro B league, 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 11, at Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris, France.
• vs. Select Team of French Pro A/Pro B, 8 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 12, at Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris, France. The times mentioned are local times in Switzerland and France.