Kansas basketball coach Bill Self says a long career awaits Kevin McCullar Jr. in NBA
LAWRENCE — Kevin McCullar Jr. had to wait a while Thursday, during the second round of the 2024 NBA draft, but with the 56th overall selection the Kansas basketball standout did have the opportunity to hear his name called.
McCullar’s pick was officially attributed to the Phoenix Suns, but according to multiplereports as the draft unfolded a trade means he’s actually headed to the New York Knicks. KU head coach Bill Self confirmed as much in a release Thursday. And with Jayhawks teammate Johnny Furphy being picked earlier in the second round, that means Self and the Kansas program now have had multiple NBA draft picks in three straight years.
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“Kevin is a first-round player and I think anybody that saw him healthy this year would agree to that,” Self said in the KU release. “Kevin will play in the league for a long time and the Knicks got one of the toughest players we have had in our program. We are all excited that Kevin heard his name called. He will be a great fit to a playoff team and such a storied franchise.”
Self continued: “Unfortunately, Kevin got injured at the end of January wasn’t the same the rest of the season and had a setback after the season as well. He wants it bad and he will respond. He will do well in New York.”
McCullar spent two seasons with Kansas after transferring in from Texas Tech prior to the 2022-23 season. An emerging talent during his years with the Red Raiders, he established himself as one of college basketball’s best by the time his last year with the Jayhawks ended. Had he been able to remain healthy this past season, as Self outlined, odds are the graduate senior guard would have made the jump to the professional ranks with many more honors than he ultimately did.
McCullar provides New York with an experienced athlete who was one of the best defensive talents in college, and someone who could earn a role at the NBA level because of that. He also improved offensively during his time at KU, and in his last season in college increased his shooting marks to 45.4% from the field, 33.3% from behind the arc and 80.5% from the free-throw line. Those totals helped him average 18.3 points per game, across 26 starts for a team with national championship aspirations, as he also recorded six rebounds 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball: Bill Self praises NBA draft pick Kevin McCullar Jr.
