Former top-40 national recruit Jalen Coleman-Lands, who spent last season at Iowa State after stints at DePaul and Illinois, announced Wednesday he is transferring to Kansas for the 2021-22 season. Coleman-Lands declared for the draft last month but maintained his college eligibility by not signing with an agent while simultaneously entering the transfer portal.
The addition gives Kansas a third transfer this offseason at the guard position and puts the Jayhawks over the scholarship limit by one, as Jesse Newell of the Kansas City Star notes. Kansas is losing senior guard Marcus Garrett to the NBA Draft and former five-star guard Bryce Thompson, who last season was a freshman, announced earlier this month he's transferring to Oklahoma State. Junior guard Ochai Agbaji has entered the draft but has maintained the option to return to school.
Coleman-Lands began his college career in 2015 at Illinois, where he made 39 starts in 69 games over two seasons, averaging 9.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He sat out the 2017-18 season after transferring to DePaul. He spent two seasons there where he averaged 10.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game before spending last season at Iowa State. For the Cyclones, he averaged a career-high 14.3 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while hitting 39.5% of his 147 3-point attempts. He's entering his seventh season in college hoops.
The addition of Coleman-Lands for Kansas is another highlight in an interesting roster overhaul this offseason that has been predicated on finding players via the transfer portal. Arizona State guard Remy Martin is the crown jewel of that endeavor, as he picked KU earlier this week, though he has said he is still testing the NBA Draft process. Drake guard Joseph Yesufu and Division II star Cam Martin are also potentially impactful additions who are expected to play roles next season. Those four are part of a nine-man incoming class that also features four high school recruits and a junior college standout in Sydney Curry.
Kansas was 21-9 last season and earned a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to USC in the second round. It made a huge jump in the latest CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 from Gary Parrish earlier this week after the addition of Martin, moving up six spots to No. 3.
