Kansas Jayhawks Basketball: Top 10 Players in Last Five Years
Kansas Jayhawks center Joel Embiid (21) – Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
10. Joel Embiid
Seven-foot center Joel Embiid was born in Cameroon, Africa and moved to the U.S. when he was sixteen. He was discovered by NBA player Luc Mbah a Moute at a basketball camp in Africa and served as his mentor when in African and the states.
When Embiid came to the United States, he enrolled at Montverde Academy in Florida, which is currently ranked number one in the nation, but transferred after his first year to The Rock School also in Florida. He was the 11th ranked recruit on 247sports.com and quickly committed to Kansas.
He only played one season at KU before being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers third overall. He didn’t play his first season because of a foot injury and will likely not play this upcoming season either.
At Kansas, he started 20 of the Jayhawks 28 games and put up some solid numbers.
His offense wasn’t his strong suit but his defense was. He was a great defender at Kansas, and that’s what made him the third overall pick in the draft.
He earned second-team Big 12 honors and earnedwas awarded the Big 12 defensive player of the year in 2014. No doubt Joel Embiid is going to do good in the NBA, but he was a great defender in his time at Kansas.
His NBA career had stalled before it ever got started. He will reportedly miss this season with a foot injury, as he did his rookie season.
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