Bishop Miege’s Travis Releford (right), an All-Metro pick, said Tuesday that he will play college basketball at Kansas. The Kansas men’s basketball program took its first step toward replacing its five seniors when Bishop Miege guard Travis Releford gave an oral commitment to the Jayhawks on Tuesday.
Releford, the No. 66 player and the No. 14 shooting guard in the Class of 2008 according to Rivals.com, chose KU over North Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas State. But Releford, reached Tuesday evening on his cell phone, indicated the other schools didn’t stand much of a chance. “No one, for real,” Releford said. “KU’s just been around since day one. I just felt like that was what was best for me.”
Releford, a member of The Star’s first-team All-Metro boys basketball team, averaged 19.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game as a junior for Bishop Miege last season. He said he wanted to make his decision before his senior year. “I just had to get it over with,” Releford said. “They were always on the top of my list; there was really no good reason not to commit there.”
Releford said he spoke with KU junior Brandon Rush, a Kansas City native, at a KU summer basketball camp last week. He said his mother wanted him to stay close to home. “I know a lot of people that are going to be there,” Releford said, “and my family is going to be close. They’re going to come see me play.”
The 6-foot-4, 185-pound Releford said that KU intends to play him on the wing.