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PROVO — BYU basketball wasn't done adding players after its overseas trip to Italy and Croatia, after all.
The Cougars received a commitment from Marcus Adams Jr., the four-star prospect out of Harbor City, California, announced on social media Saturday.
The 6-foot-8, 200-pound small forward who ranked No. 49 in the Class of 2023 by 247Sports previously signed with Kansas and Gonzaga before re-entering the transfer portal in August and landing on head coach Mark Pope's team. If Adams signs with BYU, it will be his third team before playing a minute of college basketball.
Adams first committed to Kansas back in March 2023, picking the Jayhawks over Syracuse and UCLA as the No. 29 overall prospect in 247Sports' recruiting class of 2023.
At the end of the month, the then-junior who averaged 28.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game at Narbonne High en route to 2023 John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year honors in California reclassified to the Class of 2023, signed with Kansas on April 17 prior to enrolling in Lawrence in June.
"He's a tall wing," Kansas coach Bill Self said in a statement from the school upon signing Adams. "He's 6-foot-8 and can shoot the basketball. He had two games this year, one in which he made 11 3's and the other which he made 13 3's. He's good with the ball in his hands and can make plays for others as well. We think he is very underrated and a youngster that can find immediate minutes with the departure of our tall wings from last year."
Four days after beginning workouts, Adams announced he was leaving Kansas and entering the transfer portal, according a message he posted on X, formerly Twitter, where he thanked Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend as well as Jayhawk fans for accepting him into their community and cited mental health and family reasons for his departure.
The former California high school star initially received interest from BYU, as well as Gonzaga, West Virginia, Oregon, Missouri, San Diego, Boston College, Mississippi State, Binghamton and UC Santa Barbara, according to On3, before ultimately deciding on the Zags.
On July 22, he committed to Gonzaga and signed at the end of the month,
"Marcus is a really talented player," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said in a statement at the time. "He can score. He can shoot. Hopefully we can tap into that and getting him into our up-tempo system is going to be a really good thing."
His stay in Spokane lasted less than a month, with Adams reopening his commitment Aug. 27, he told On3. He visited BYU Aug. 28-29, after which he posted a photo in BYU gear with Pope, assistant coaches Cody Fueger, Nick Robinson and Kahil Fennell, and new BYU strength and conditioning coach Michael Davie.
Big 12 Spin Back💙 #gocougspic.twitter.com/M3nz8QGqb3
— Marcus Adams Jr (@marcusadams21) September 2, 2023
Because he signed with both Kansas and Gonzaga, Adams must petition a waiver from the NCAA to gain immediate eligibility for the 2023-24 season. Barring the waiver, he would be eligible for the 2024-25 campaign, when BYU will enter its second season in a Big 12 Conference that will add Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah after losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.
He'll be a rare newcomer on a BYU basketball roster that largely stayed together in the offseason. Only Aly Khalifa, the 6-foot-11 junior from Alexandria, Egypt by way of Charlotte, and former UC Irvine scoring wing Dawson Baker joined a team that lost three players to the transfer portal as well as point guard Rudi Williams and wing forward Gideon George to graduation.
The trio join a returning core of forward Fousseyni Traore, guard Dallin Hall, wings Spencer Johnson, Jaxson Robinson and Noah Waterman, and sharpshooter Trevin Knell, who missed the entire 2022-23 season with a shoulder injury.
