Kansas announced on Friday that guard Lagerald Vick will return for his senior season after Vick initially declared his intentions to go pro on April 6th.
The surprising return of the 6-foot-5 Vick, a starter on last season’s Kansas Final Four team, is a major boost for a team that was already considered No. 1 in the NBCSports.com Preseason Top 25. With Vick back in the Kansas lineup, it gives the Jayhawks a proven double-figure scorer who also doubles as the team’s best returning perimeter shooter.
And that perimeter shooting could be a huge difference for Kansas this season.
With a mostly new-look perimeter that will include Cal transfer Charlie Moore, sophomore Marcus Garrett and freshmen Devon Dotson and Quentin Grimes, Kansas has a lot of talent in the mix on the perimeter. It was also going to be perimeter shooting that was a major question mark among that group.
Moore should be a plus perimeter shooter, but Garrett was only 26 percent from distance last season. Dotson and Grimes are more effective as downhill attacking guards. With Vick back in the mix, it reduces pressure on those guards -- as well as the incoming Lawson brothers. Vick is there to knock down perimeter shots since he is ideal as knockdown-shooting wing. Vick shot 37 percent from three-point range each of the past two seasons after a 47 percent clip as a freshman. He can make shots and get on rolls.
While the late return of Vick makes for an interesting minutes dilemma for head coach Bill Self, now he has one of his deepest teams ever at Kansas. This team has multiple backups capable of playing good minutes next season and they shouldn’t worry at all about depth after last season’s issues.
If Vick can knock down perimeter shots and provide more floor spacing then it makes Kansas that much more dangerous in the Big 12 and national title race. Vick will be the only senior on the Jayhawks next season, and his unexpected return gives Kansas even greater pressure to make a title run if he knocks down perimeter shots like he’s capable of.