21 June 2023
LAWRENCE (KSNT)- The transfer portal can bring shocking news regularly.
The portal was a blessing and a curse to KU fans this offseason. The Jayhawks lost high potential players like MJ Rice and Ernest Udeh Jr. However, they added studs in Hunter Dickinson, Nick Timberlake and others.
Just when it looked like perhaps the transfer portal news was complete for KU men’s basketball this offseason, an even more unusual event occurred. One Jayhawk who entered the portal earlier this spring, and committed to another school, has decided to come back to KU.
Zach Clemence is rejoining the Jayhawks, Bill Self confirmed to reporters on Tuesday.
“Zach got back [to Lawrence] last night,” Self said on Tuesday, “Got on campus [Tuesday] morning.”
Self said he was hopeful Clemence would practice with the team on Tuesday. He will be on scholarship but will not play in the 2023-24 season. The plan is for Clemence to redshirt his junior year.
Clemence was previously reported to be committed to UC Santa Barbara. He reached out to Bill Self last week to ask if foregoing that plan to instead return to KU would be an option.
“We discussed what we both thought would be best for his future, basketball wise,” Self said.
Self says he likes KU’s roster as is. He also made commitments to players who recently joined the team and wants to keep his word regarding the opportunities they’ll receive.
“Zach’s not going to come in and impact the guys that we’ve recruited in a way that we have told them how we were going to utilize them.”
Without taking the court on game days, it will be a year of learning and growing for Clemence.
“Zach’s thinking was it would be in his best interest to, in a perfect world, redshirt and help us every day in practice and allow himself an opportunity to get better… just to see how that takes him to a place where he can be a major contributor at this level at some point and time.”
Self seems to think it’s a win for both parties.
“I think it’s a good decision if he wasn’t totally content with the decision he’d made and I know he feels good about it,” Self said.
Self says Clemence never officially transferred. Since he didn’t even step foot on campus at UC Santa Barbara he is still eligible to join the Jayhawks.
“I didn’t envision this happening with Zach,” he said. “It caught me totally off guard when he reached out to speak about this, but we loved Zach when he was here.”
Coach Self said it came down to Clemence believing he could be a better basketball player in one year than he is at the moment if he came back to Lawrence.
Clemence averaged 5.5 minutes of playing time per game for KU in the 2022-23 season.