Kansas Jayhawks land transfer commitment from Towson’s Nick Timberlake

The Kansas Jayhawks picked up their first transfer portal commitment of the 2023 offseason on Wednesday, landing Towson guard Nick Timberlake.

KU had been targeting Timberlake ever since the veteran sharpshooter entered the transfer portal on March 9 and brought him to Lawrence for an official visit on April 7-9. As of Wednesday morning, The Athletic ranked Timberlake as the 16th-best player currently in the transfer portal.

Timberlake is a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility remaining. He spent the last five years playing for the Towson Tigers, including seeing the floor in just nine games in 2018-19 before getting a redshirt. For his career, he has averaged 12.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while knocking down nearly 38% of his three-point attempts.

A two-time first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association honoree, Timberlake’s best year at Towson was last year, when he posted career highs in points per game (17.7), assists per game (2.4) and three-point percentage (41.6% on 6.7 attempts per game).

The Jayhawks had to fight off two other powerhouse programs for Timberlake’s commitment. The UConn Huskies, the reigning national champions, and North Carolina Tar Heels were his other two finalists. In an interview with 247Sports when he first entered the transfer portal, Timberlake said that while he was open any option, his goal was to play for a Power 5 school or “high-level team.”

This commitment is a big one for Bill Self and the Jayhawks, who will go into the 2023-24 season needing to replace plenty of starting and reserve production from last season. KU could lose as many as three starters from last year, with Jalen Wilson, Kevin McCullar and Gradey Dick all declaring for the NBA draft, though McCullar is maintaining the rest of his college eligibility for now.

Kansas has also seen five bench players from the 2022-23 team enter the transfer portal this spring. Three of them have found new schools, including M.J. Rice committing to the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Wednesday. Cam Martin and Bobby Pettiford have also announced transfer destinations, with Martin joining the Boise State Broncos and Pettiford committing to the East Carolina Pirates.