A closer look at new KU target Harlond Beverly

By Matt Tait     Apr 1, 2019

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Kansas University basketball recruiting

With just two players signed in the Class of 2019 and the potential need for as many as four more, the Kansas basketball coaching staff continues to pound the pavement in search of future Jayhawks and new names are turning up every week.

The newest name on KU’s radar is that of 4-star prospect Harlond Beverly, a 6-foot-4, 170-pound shooting guard from Montverde (Fla.) Academy who recently received a scholarship offer from the Jayhawks.

Ranked No. 59 overall in the 2019 class and up 14 spots from his previous mark of No. 73 in the last round of Rivals.com rankings, Beverly is an interesting prospect for a couple of reasons.

No. 1, the mere fact that Kansas continues to look at guards even though the only two players currently signed in the 2019 class play that position is an indication that there could be some validity to the idea that Quentin Grimes, K.J. Lawson [could join Charlie Moore in moving on this offseason.][1]

No. 2, the program for which Beverly currently plays is also noteworthy given the fact that he’s a current teammate of another KU target, 5-star forward Precious Achiuwa, who is expected to make his decision sometime in late May. There’s not always a connection when a program like Kansas recruits teammates from the same school, but there’s no doubt that Achiuwa, who made an official visit to KU a few weeks ago, definitely could give Beverly some more feedback on what KU’s all about and what his visit was like.

Before we go any further, we should probably get to the most important part of this whole thing — who the heck is Harlond Beverly to begin with?

Good question.

Originally from Farmington Hills, Mich., (just outside of Detroit), the shooting guard who starts and wears No. 10 at Montverde helped lead the Eagles to a 21-2 record during the 2018-19 regular season.

Montverde is currently preparing to make a run at a national title at the 8-team GEICO High School National Championship Tournament, April 4-6 in New York City.

In addition to several double-digit outings, Beverly won Game MVP honors back in December after a 57-50 victory over Paul VI at the Takeover Event in Washington D.C., where he led all scorers with 20 points, on 9-of-9 shooting, and added 4 steals in Montverde’s victory.

According to Rivals.com recruiting analyst Corey Evans, Beverly is unlikely to make a decision until making his official visits and, as of today, the shooting guard already has visited Indiana, unofficially, and plans to visit Georgia, which would leave him with plenty of official visits still to take if he so chooses.

According to Shay Wildeboor of JayhawkSlant.com, Beverly is closing in on 20 offers from Division I programs, a fact that both inspires him beam with pride and makes the decision that much harder.

According to reports, Baylor and Xavier were the first to show serious interest in Detroit native, who left home to play his senior season at Montverde and bolstered his stock tremendously. Georgia, Miami (Fla.), Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, Florida, Michigan State, Ohio State and, of course, Kansas, are some of the other programs in the mix for Beverly as we approach April.

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2019/mar/30/sophomore-guard-charlie-moore-transfer-ku/

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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.