KU Basketball Recruiting: Jayhawks Target Harry Giles Tears ACL
By Joel Wagler
KU basketball recruiting target Harry Giles, one of the top prospects in the country, has torn his ACL.
The Kansas Jayhawks are on Giles’ shortlist, which also includes Duke, Kentucky, and Wake Forest. According to Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg, this is Giles’ second major knee injury in the last three years. He tore ACL and MCL in his left knee as a sophomore.
According to ESPN’s Hot 100, Harry Giles is ranked as the number one overall prospect in this recruiting class. It will be interested to see if drops due to this injury.
There is no indication if this injury will hurt his recruitment or if any of the schools will pull their offers. Giles intends to move up his decision from next week to tomorrow, according to ESPN.
Father of top ESPN 100 2016 recruit Harry Giles (partially torn right ACL) says son will reveal college choice at noon Fri. on SportsCenter
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 5, 2015
Torn ACL injuries are serious but not career threatening. Still, no one can know for sure if the youngster will be able to recover to full strength. Will he be as good of a collegiate player after injuries to both knees as a high schooler?
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He will also lose that valuable experience of just being on the court and playing by missing out on his senior season.
The Jayhawks could be a good landing place for the big man. Kansas will lose Perry Ellis, Jamari Traylor, and Hunter Mickelson to graduation after this season.
There will be a void on the interior since only role player Landen Lucas, current freshman Carlton Bragg, Ole Miss transfer Dwight Colbey, and freshly signed Mitch Lightfoot are set to be the only big men on next year’s roster thus far.
The KU basketball team is still awaiting on if freshman Cheick Diallo will be eligible for play in the 2015-2016 season, but even if he is given the go-ahead from the NCAA, it is doubtful he will be on campus for more than one season.
All of which could work in Giles’ favor if he decides to pick Kansas. He would have a chance to make an immediate impact at KU, but the Jayhawks should have the depth to cover for him if he is slow to recover. He wouldn’t have to carry the full load of the interior game on his own.
Of course, programs like Duke and Kentucky will probably have similar opportunities. Their histories and recruiting prowess match Kansas’ and he would be in the think of a national title at those schools as well as at Kansas.
Wake Forest is an interesting option for Giles because their head coach Danny Manning may be the best big man mentor in the college ranks, as Kansas fans can attest, and has survived his fair share of knee injuries himself.
Hopefully, Harry Giles can fully recover from surgery, and he will choose the Kansas Jayhawks.
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Stay tuned for more KU basketball recruiting news and rumors.