Uplift guard Markese Jacobs is only entering his sophomore season but he's already decided on his basketball future as the high-flying guard committed to Kansas on Sunday, a source told CSN.
The Jayhawks offered the 5-foot-10 Jacobs during the summer and clearly made a strong enough impression with him over the last few months to land the early commitment. Jacobs visited Lawrence this weekend on an unofficial visit to take in the annual Late Night in the Phog.
An athletic guard who is capable of making highlight-reel dunks and plays, Jacobs averaged 18 points per game for Uplift's varsity team as a freshman as he projects to be one of the best players in the Illinois Class of 2019. A dynamic offensive talent who can score or run an offense, Jacobs has a workable jumper that could be very good by the time he enters college.
Jacobs is the first commitment for Kansas in the Class of 2019 and he's one of the first players nationally in the sophomore class to offer up a verbal commitment. Kansas head coach Bill Self has a history of recruiting well in the Chicagoland area as he's landed players like Homewood-Flossmoor's Julian Wright, Crane's Sherron Collins, Julian's Jamari Traylor and Curie's Cliff Alexander over the last decade. Kansas assistant coach Jerrence Howard is also a native of Peoria and the former Illinois assistant has strong recruiting ties to the Chicagoland area.
The commitment to Kansas will certainly draw a lot of attention to Jacobs this season, and paired with older brother and senior guard Demarius Jacobs, Uplift will be one of the better teams in the Public League this season.