Kansas Basketball lands graduate transfer Isaiah Moss for the 2019-20 season. What does the former Hawkeye bring to the Jayhawks?
After losing out on five-star recruit RJ Hampton, Kansas Basketball was still in need of another playmaking guard for next season. Most of the top grad transfers were already taken but as luck would have it, one became suddenly available in Isaiah Moss.
Originally with the Iowa Hawkeyes for the first three seasons, the 6’5 guard elected to enter the transfer portal. Kansas was one of the programs in pursuit of him but Moss elected to join the Arkansas Razorbacks. But that only lasted for a couple of weeks before option to reopen his recruitment process. And with Hampton going overseas, a spot was open for Moss to take another look and ultimately picked Kansas.
A three-year starter at Iowa, Moss is coming off averaging 9.2 ppg on 24 mpg. The key statistic to look at with him is the 42% three-point shooting. He hit at least four three-pointers several times this past season and went 6/10 in a game against Minnesota. This may not be the biggest name in the transfer portal this offseason but Moss will serve a big purpose for Kansas in 2019-20.
The Jayhawks did get some good news with the returns of Udoka Azubuike from not joining the NBA Draft and Silvio De Sousa from what was supposed to be a two-year suspension. But neither can spread the floor and shoot the ball, meaning that the perimeter players will have to step up.
However, the players who left Kansas this offseason (Quentin Grimes, Lagerald Vick and Dedric Lawson) were the top three-point shooters on the team a season ago. Devon Dotson is the only returning Jayhawk who shot over 30% from deep (36% on less than one make a game), while wings Ochai Agbaji and Marcus Garrett’s offensive games are more slashing than shooting. Moss can fill the role of a prototypical shooting guard alongside Dotson and space the floor for the Jayhawks offense.
Kansas might not be done, with top-50 recruit in the 2019 class Jalen Wilson still available. He could solve the spacing issue at the four-spot if he commits and make the Jayhawks a viable Final Four contender without a clear weakness. Moss won’t have the same kind of grad transfer fanfare that a Kerry Blackshear will soon get but he’ll be a key clog for the Big 12 favorites next season.