There’s been no shortage of chatter about Kansas’ lack of success this offseason.
Seeing a perennial blue blood program fall short on multiple top targets (Darrion Williams, Dame Sarr, among others) is a rare sight in college basketball, although it’s becoming less uncommon with each passing year as NIL has evened out the college landscape.
Even in early June, well over a month after the transfer portal closed, the Jayhawks had an opportunity to save their offseason with a remaining option in the portal – and a high-quality one at that: USC transfer Desmond Claude.
On Sunday though, Claude officially came off the board, committing to a fellow west coast Big Ten squad in Washington.
Last season, as a junior at USC, Claude averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. Tabbed as the 31st transfer in the country by 247 Sports, Claude was the final top-100 player to make his transfer decision.
Back in April, the Jayhawks were heavily linked to the 6-foot-6 guard. Kansas made Claude’s final cut, alongside North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida.
Quickly, the defending national champion Gators became the frontrunner, but after landing highly-touted Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee, coach Todd Golden and his crew backed off in their pursuit of Claude.
Since then, the discussions around Claude’s status had been quiet, but Washington ultimately snuck in to land its second top-50 transfer this offseason, as Claude is set to follow his former USC teammate Wesley Yates III (24th transfer) to Seattle.
While Kansas had appeared to be out of the Claude sweepstakes for a few weeks, his commitment all but ensures the Jayhawks don’t make any additional moves through the portal. The two remaining options for coach Bill Self and his staff: international prospects or 2026 reclasses.
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