Conner Frankamp Picks Shockers over Kansas Jayhawks
As far back as the summer of 2011, Wichita native Conner Frankamp knew he was going to be a part of the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team.
Heavily recruited by the likes of Wichita State, Kansas State, Texas, Missouri and others, the eventual top-50 recruit decided before his junior year at Wichita North that his basketball future went through Lawrence. Few thought that Lawrence would just be a pit-stop along the way, though.
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What he didn’t know was that he would see little playing time at Kansas.
Frankamp announced in late October that he would be leaving the Jayhawks. On Monday, he chose to transfer to Wichita State.
Frankamp struggled his freshman year at Kansas, averaging just 2.5 points per game and not breaking double digits until the NCAA Tournament. He was dissatisfied with his playing time, logging just 8.3 minutes per game and failing to notch a meaningful statistic in 8 games last year. He knew enough to see the logjam of talented players lining up for court time ahead of him and decided to take his talents elsewhere.
Can you blame him?
Sophomore Frank Mason III has been leading the way as the teams point guard, and doing pretty well (31.8 minutes, 9.8 points, 3.7 assists per game).His knack for crashing the boards from the perimeter is particularly impressive. While transfer Devonte’ Graham has been nursing a bum shoulder he hasn’t been playing poorly by any means.
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On the wings, there are four players vying for 80 minutes of playing time each game. Kansas sophomore Wayne Seldon Jr. has been hot and cold so far this year, but Brannen Greene has played solid and in my opinion Ukrainian Svi Mykhailiuk has been as impressive as anyone.
That doesn’t even include McDonald’s All-American and projected NBA lottery pick freshman Kelly Oubre who is only averaging 7.8 minutes and 2.2 points per game.
Despite the ridiculous impatience of most Kansas fans, I think it’s great that Coach Self is taking his time in bringing him and fellow phenom Cliff Alexander into the fold. Allowing them some time to adjust and have as little pressure as possible will pay off later down the road – just wait and see.
Going back home to Wichita State makes sense. For one, Conner Frankamp was already a hometown hero in Wichita due to his high school success. The folks in south central Kansas will welcome his return. Not only that, but the Wichita State Shockers are obviously on the way up. They haven’t lost a regular season game since early 2013 and currently rank eighth in the nation.
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Even with a roster light on departing upperclassman it’s fair to think that Frankamp will get more playing time than he would have in Lawrence.
As disheartening as it is to see anyone transfer away from a program, Frankamp leaving Kansas doesn’t really hurt. The Jayhawks have ample players at his position. Plus, the Shockers pose little threat to Kansas—unless they meet the Jayhawks in the NCAA Tourney, or Kansas decides to add the Shocker’s to their non-conference schedule in the future.
Despite bigger and faster players ahead of him, I think Frankamp could have found a role this year had he stayed with the Jayhawks. He’s an outstanding shooter, and had the advantage of a year under Self already. Still, if he was looking for more than ten to fifteen minutes a game, then transferring was probably the right choice.
Although Frankamp put up less than stellar stats from last year and the other players slated ahead of him, I was sad to see him go. I really liked the depth Self had built in the backcourt and you hate to see any shooter that dangerous leave.
Even so, at the end of the year you need to have eight to nine guys that are getting the majority of our minutes. Hopefully for Frankamp’s sake, next year he’ll be one of those eight or nine for the Shockers.