Five-star big man David McCormack inks with Kansas

By Matt Tait     Nov 11, 2017

Photo courtesy of Team Loaded AAU
Class of 2018 big man David McCormack signs his national letter of intent to join the Kansas basketball program on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, at a ceremony with his family.

A few hours after the Kansas basketball program announced the signing of Class of 2018 point guard Devon Dotson on Saturday, a second letter of intent arrived in the KU basketball offices.

David McCormack, a 6-foot-10, 285-pound center from Oak Hill Academy, ranked as the No. 4 center in the 2018 class, made his commitment to Kansas official by signing the letter at a ceremony with his family.

Two of KU’s three commitments in 2018 recruiting class that is ranked second in the country by Rivals.com, now have signed their letters.

“David is guy who caught our eye early on,” Self said of McCormack, who was a teammate of current Jayhawk Billy Preston at Oak Hill last year. “There are many things that impressed us about him and the more we watched, the more we liked. As he got older, we fell in love with his effort, his attitude and his discipline. David is a guy, on his own, that has lost 50 pounds by eating right, changing his diet and doing proper exercise. He’s transformed his game and his body into something that I feel like will be one of the more prepared bodies that anyone can recruit in college basketball.”

McCormack, who said his relationship with KU assistant coach Jerrance Howard played a huge role in him picking Kansas, averaged 10.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during his junior season at Oak Hill and 14.8 and 9.8 for Team Loaded AAU this summer.

“He’s 6-10 and can play both big spots, the power forward or center type position,” Self said. “He’s got good skills and we think the sky is the limit on what he can become as well. When you look at big bodies that we’ve had, David has a body like Thomas (Robinson) but he reminds me of a Darnell Jackson early in his career in that he can definitely shoot, he can pass but he’ll do most of his work near the basket.”

KU’s other known commitment in the 2018 class is 6-9 forward Silvio De Sousa, who is exploring the idea of coming to KU in time for the second semester this season.

Self and company also remain in the hunt for a few other elite 2018 prospects, including five-star prospects Quentin Grimes, Zion Williamson and Romeo Langford, who narrowed his list to Kansas, Indiana and Vanderbilt this weekend.

The end of the early signing period, which opened last Wednesday, runs through next Wednesday. The regular signing period is set for April 2018.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.