LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas sophomore David McCormack will return to school for his junior year instead of entering the 2020 NBA draft, he announced Thursday.
McCormack, 6-10, 265-pound power forward from Norfolk, Va., averaged 6.9 points and 4.1 rebounds a game last season for the Jayhawks (28-3). He started 18 of 29 games in which he appeared and played an average of 14.6 minutes a game.
“Me and my family have looked into my NBA draft prospects the past few weeks to get some input from the NBA teams on what areas of my game I need to improve on,” McCormack said Thursday. “It was a great opportunity to hear from them and I’m looking forward to putting those on display this next season at Allen Fieldhouse. We have a great coaching staff who can help me and my teammates reach that next level.”
KU coach Bill Self will be counting on McCormack to help replace big man Udoka Azubuike, who averaged 13.7 points and 10.5 rebounds his senior season.
“David had a really good year this past season,” Self said Thursday. “The reason he didn’t play as many minutes was he had a first-team All-American (Azubuike) who had a really good year. I anticipate David being a guy we can play through and I believe he could be a double-double guy, similar to what Doke was, or real near to those numbers. He’ll get them in ways Doke did not, which could also make our team more versatile.”
KU has a full allotment of 13 on scholarship for next season, including frontcourt players McCormack, Mitch Lightfoot, Silvio De Sousa and incoming freshman Gethro Muscadin. Perimeter scholarship players include Marcus Garrett, Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, Tristan Enaruna, Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris, plus newcomers Tyon Grant-Foster, Bryce Thompson and Latrell Jossell. KU has walk-ons in Chris Teahan, Elijah Elliott and Michael Jankovich.
“We’ve known all along that going into this past season we were probably going to lose Devon (Dotson) and we were definitely going to lose Udoka and Isaiah (Moss),” Self said. “To have the remaining team returning and a good recruiting class, it puts us in a position not to take a step backward at all in our program. I look forward to Marcus, Ochai, David, Mitch and Silvio, our upperclassmen, taking ownership of everything that goes with this team and see where they can take it.”
As for McCormack, Self noted late in the 2019-20 season that, “If there is one guy on our team getting the short end of the stick (in minutes) it’s David, from the standpoint we are so much better playing one big — so much better. The other big (Azubuike) is playing pretty well.
“David … the points he gets are from seven, eight feet. He’s gotten to where he can really shoot the ball (52.9% from field; 81.9% from free-throw line). His ceiling is high, no doubt. I could see him as a guy who could put up some big numbers moving forward.”
Of being able to hit mid-range jumpers consistently, McCormack said late in the season: “That’s my game. I’ve been working on my mid-range, expanding my game and my shooting. I come in and have an impact and do what I need to do.”
