Australian forward reclassifies, signs with Jayhawks

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) -Johnny Furphy has signed to play for the Jayhawks out of Australia, the team announced Thursday. The 6-foot-7, 180 pound small forward was first committed on Wednesday, per reports.

He reclassified to the class of 2023 after a breakout summer in July where he got noticed at the NBA Academy Games in Atlanta and Las Vegas earning the offers and interests of many of the nation’s top programs including Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga and many others.

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He averaged 14.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.8 steals a game while shooting 45.2-percent from the field in front of NBA scouts and college coaches between the mentioned events. The NBA Global Academy has produced recent Australian NBA Draft first round picks Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey.

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“Johnny is a youngster that we saw in person for the first time at the NBA Academy Development camp in Atlanta during the July period, and then we saw him multiple times the next week in Las Vegas,” head coach Bill Self said in a statement. “He is one of the most gifted, skilled young kids in the 2023 class and certainly as gifted and skilled as any player remaining that we could recruit. He’s been well trained at the Center of Excellence in Australia. He’s well beyond his years from his feel and basketball IQ standpoint. The platform at the NBA Global Academy has allowed him to be seen and recruited at this level. We are very excited about him and think his future is very bright.”

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