Mitch Lightfoot is off the board to Kansas.
The 6-foot-8 Lightfoot out of Gilbert (Ariz.) Christian High is a onetime New Mexico commit who also considered St. John’s, Arizona, Stanford and Utah and took official visits to all five schools. Lightfoot is ranked the No. 31 power forward in the Class of 2016 by 247Sports.com.
“In the end I feel the best decision for me is to be a Kansas Jayhawk,” he said Saturday at his press conference.
“I’m from Kansas so I’ve watched them for a long time and was raised with Kansas,” he previously told Scout. “All my family from over there are Kansas fans. They have a great program; they’ve won national championships and they develop players.”
A long, athletic power forward with a good motor, Lightfoot is the first Class of 2016 commit for Coach Bill Self’s team, which will lose bigs Perry Ellis, Hunter Mickelson, and Jamari Traylor to graduation. Cheick Diallo, who has yet to be cleared by the NCAA for this season, could also be one-and-done.
Kansas also remains in the hunt for numerous other elite big men, including Harry Giles, Marques Bolden, Jarrett Allen, Udoka Azubuike and Schnider Herard.
The NCAA early signing period runs Nov. 11-18.
