Mark Pope’s BYU basketball program is reportedly still in the hunt for a young forward who is rated a top 50 talent in the 2023 recruiting class.
Marcus Adams Jr. will visit BYU early this week, 247 Sports’ Dushawn London reported Monday.
Adams originally signed with Kansas and enrolled in school before entering the transfer portal in mid-July.
He committed to Gonzaga shortly thereafter and signed with the Zags program, but on Sunday, On3’s Joe Tipton reported that Adams will not enroll at Gonzaga and instead is remaining in the transfer portal.
Who is Marcus Adams Jr.?
The 6-foot-8, 200-pound small forward Adams hails from Harbor City, California, and was rated a four-star recruit and the No. 49 prospect nationally in the 2023 class by 247 Sports.
He originally was a member of the 2024 class but reclassified to the 2023 class.
Adams averaged 28.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game last season for Nathaniel Narbonne High, per Kansas when he signed with the school — that included three 40-point games and a 50-point, 21-rebound effort.
Here’s a brief timeline of the true freshman’s movements in recent months, according to 247 Sports and other reports:
How does BYU fit into all this?
When Adams originally entered the transfer portal after deciding to leave Kansas, Tipton reported that BYU was among a group of 10 schools that reached out to the small forward soon thereafter, along with Gonzaga, West Virginia, Oregon, Missouri, San Diego, Boston College, Mississippi State, Binghamton and USCB.
BYU currently has two open scholarships for the 2023-24 season, the Cougars’ first as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
This comes after guard Ques Glover originally signed with BYU as a graduate transfer, only to re-enter the transfer portal and sign with Kansas State. Glover’s departure from Provo was reportedly due to NIL issues.
When could Marcus Adams Jr. be eligible to play?
Tipton reported that Adams will likely need a waiver from the NCAA to play this season.
He participated in workouts after enrolling in Kansas and was attending summer classes at the school, according to Tipton, but he entered the transfer portal after the deadline that would have allowed him to play during the 2023-24 season.
What others have said about Marcus Adams Jr.
Here’s what Kansas coach Bill Self and Gonzaga coach Mark Few said about Adams at the time he signed with their respective schools.
“He’s a tall wing. He’s 6-foot-8 and can shoot the basketball. He had two games this year, one in which he made 11 threes and the other which he made 13 threes. He’s good with the ball in his hands and can make plays for others as well.” — Kansas coach Bill Self, per the school.
“Marcus is a really talented player. He can score. He can shoot. Hopefully we can tap into that and getting him into our up-tempo system is going to be a really good thing.” — Gonzaga coach Mark Few, per the school.
