Marcus Adams Jr. Commits to Kansas Over UCLA Men's Basketball

The Bruins were seen as leaders in Adams' recruitment after his official visit, but the Jayhawks swooped in to seal the deal.

One of the fastest rising prospects in Southern California will not be joining his hometown team.

Class of 2024 small forward Marcus Adams Jr. announced his commitment to Kansas on Instagram Live on Tuesday night, selecting the Jayhawks over Syracuse and UCLA men's basketball. Adams officially visited UCLA from March 3 to 5 and was in the crowd for the Bruins' victory against Arizona on Saturday.

Coming off of that visit, Adams was widely expected to commit to UCLA, according to experts from 247Sports, Rivals and On3. As recently as Monday, the Narbonne High School (CA) product retweeted a prediction from SBLive Sports Director of Recruiting Andrew Nemec claiming that he would join the Bruins.

Sentiment started to shift late Tuesday afternoon, though, and Kansas wound up being Adams' preferred destination. Adams visited Lawrence from Feb. 24 to 26.

“I chose Kansas because NIL, the coaches, and they really sound like they need and want me,” Adams told 247Sports. “Coach (Bill) Self reached out to me and said I want you to play for me and that he wants to coach me. Hearing that from a coach of his status and him reaching out directly is a really big deal that I couldn’t turn down.”

Breaking: 2024 four-star wing Marcus Adams Jr. tells me he's committed to Kansas.

“They told me they want me and need me."

Story: https://t.co/agMSx1oIaI pic.twitter.com/FGpS8z5Nfk

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) March 8, 2023

It still remains to be seen if Adams will reclassify up to 2023, or remain in the class of 2024.

Adams is a four-star recruit, according to 247Sports and On3, but a three-star on Rivals. 247Sports has Adams newly ranked as the No. 4 player in California, the No. 11 small forward in the nation and the No. 29 overall prospect in the class of 2024 – a 31-spot increase from their previous rankings.

In 17 games with Norbonne, Adams is averaging 28.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Adams is currently set to join the Compton Magic when the AAU season begins in early April. UCLA has secured commitments from several Compton Magic products over the past few cycles – including Jules Bernard, Jaylen Clark, Dylan Andrews and Devin Williams – with assistant coach Rod Palmer actually co-founding the program in 1993.

The Bruins' inability to reel in Adams is just the staff's latest miss on the recruiting trail this cycle, if Adams is included in the 2023 cycle.

UCLA was favored at one point or another to pick up commitments from five-star forward Ron Holland, five-star point guard Isaiah Collier, five-star point guard Elmarko Jackson, five-star small forward Andrej Stojakovic and five-star small forward Dusty Stromer. All of them committed elsewhere, leaving the Bruins without a five-star commit in the class of 2023.

Still, UCLA's three-man class of four-star guard Sebastian Mack, four-star forward Devin Williams and four-star forward Brandon Williams ranks No. 14 in the country and No. 3 in the Pac-12. The program could also add an international player this coming offseason, such as French wing Ilane Fibleuil, who visited Westwood earlier in the season.

The Bruins could also be a threat on the transfer market the same way they were when they added Johnny Juzang in 2020 and Myles Johnson in 2021.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF MARCUS ADAMS JR./INSTAGRAM