4-star point guard picks Kansas

Labaron Philon, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound point guard who is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 38 player in the 2024 prep class, announced his commitment to Kansas late Monday night.

He chose the Jayhawks over Alabama, Cincinnati and Mississippi.

Philon, who had been committed to Auburn until this spring, took an official visit to KU’s campus last weekend and clearly saw and learned enough about Bill Self’s program to end his recruitment.

Rivals.com recruiting analyst Rob Cassidy had this to say about the newest Jayhawk:

“His calling card is his creativity. His length allows him to guard multiple positions on defense and score in a number of ways on offense. (He) is one of few guards that is actually capable of playing the 1 or the 2 at the college level because of a rare blend of playmaking and scoring abilities.”

Although his quickness, length and ability to attack the paint are his primary strength, Cassidy and others have pointed out that Philon is a capable outside shooter, who can get hot and hurt you from the outside if left open.

Philon, a four-star prospect, becomes the second player in the 2024 class to commit to Kansas, joining five-star big man Flory Bidunga, who committed to KU in mid-August, becoming the first five-star prospect to join the Jayhawks since 2016.

The Jayhawks are likely far from done in recruiting the 2024 class. The current roster features just 11 scholarship players and Kansas is expected to lose three players, at a minimum — Kevin McCullar Jr., Nicolas Timberlake and Parker Braun — following the 2023-24 season.

Regardless of who else Self and company adds in the class, the addition of Philon and Bidunga give the Jayhawks cornerstone pieces at the game’s two most important positions, freeing up their flexibility to fill in the rest of whatever openings they have with wings, best-player-available pieces and the like from here on out.

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