Reno standout signs with Kansas

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- After months of phone calls, letters and courting by collegiate basketball powerhouses, the agonizing is officially over for Reno standout David Padgett.

On Wednesday, the 6-foot-11, 242-pound Reno High senior signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Kansas, the No. 2-ranked team in this year's preseason poll.

Now, Padgett is just looking forward to playing basketball.

"It's kind of weird thinking the college process is done," Padgett told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "It's big. It's not as big as when I made my (verbal) commitment, but it felt good to get it out of the way.

"Right now, I just want to concentrate on my season ahead of me. This is my senior season, my last chance to try and win something.

"After that is done, I'll try to be in as good a shape as possible when I get back there to be ready to go," he said.

The Jayhawks went 33-4 last season and lost to Maryland in the NCAA national seimfinals.

Coaches around the nation tried to woo Padgett to their school.

Padgett said he life resumed some normalcy when he gave a verbal commitment to play at Kansas last month.

"I'm not getting a bunch of mail every day or phone calls every hour. I had about four or five coaches calling me a day before I committed," he said.

Padgett is one of four players Kansas is bringing in next year, including a good friend of Padgett's from summer ball, Omar Wilkes of Los Angeles.

"There can't be any basketball coach in the country happier than I am," Kansas coach Roy Williams said about Padgett's decision to attend Kansas as well as his overall recruiting class.

Padgett is an especially good fit in Williams' program, both in style of play and background.

"For us, we play a style that fits Dave very well," Williams told the newspaper. "Our big guys need to be able to run and I think that's one of David's big qualities. I think that's the biggest quality after coachability."

Padgett said he plans to attend summer school at Kansas to get some classes out of the way before basketball season starts next fall.

 

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