Bill Self: Pivotal KU basketball freshman Billy Preston can ‘shorten gap’ in Italy

LAWRENCE — Like many of his freshman peers, Billy Preston is still finding his footing.

The 6-foot-10 forward’s summer practices have amounted to what Kansas coach Bill Self labels two steps forward, one step back — but with a glass-half-full footnote.

“To me, that’s one step in the right direction,” Self said Sunday. “It’s not one step forward, two back. It’s two forward, one back. So he’s definitely moving in the right direction.”

Preston, a five-star recruit and the No. 10-ranked prospect in the Class of 2017 at recruiting outlet Rivals.com, will likely be leaned on heavily in his first collegiate campaign. The Jayhawks have three frontcourt players on their roster with only 244 combined college minutes played between them.

Like virtually all freshmen he’s coached, Self expects at least an early learning curve for Preston.

“I think it’s frustrating for him because he’s thinking instead of playing,” Self said. “He still hasn’t let it go and played with reckless abandon. But he will. He will.”

With the team en route to Italy for this week’s exhibition slate, Preston should see significant action in those four contests. Still, Self doesn’t expect him to show he’s ready for college competition — at least not yet.

“Nah, he’s not ready,” Self said. “I hate to say that, but he’s not ready. But he can get more ready. … I don’t think there’s very many freshmen (who are). Josh (Jackson), maybe. Frank (Mason) was national player of the year and he wasn’t ready as a freshman. (Andrew Wiggins) was the first pick in the draft and he wasn’t ready in the summer before his freshman year.

“So Billy’s got a ways to go, but he can shorten the gap a lot this trip.”

Preston, Self said, has enough talent to be the best rebounder in any game, and one of the best scorers, ball handlers and passers. To do that, though, he has to get past what Self called a tendency to “play one possession and take a couple off.”

“I think Billy’s really talented — really talented,” Self said. “I think he’s never been told— I should say, he’s never been forced to play with a consistent effort and focus that he needs to, and certainly that’s not a knock on anyone in the past. I think he’s made tremendous improvement since he’s been at Oak Hill Academy (Va.). Tremendous. But even the guy at Oak Hill will tell you he’s still got to get a lot more consistent.”

Once Preston starts showing that reckless abandon, though, Self expects big things.

“Certainly it’s not a knock on him at all. It’s what a majority of all freshmen we’ve had have had to come to grips with,” Self said. “But when he does, we’ll see his production go way up.”

GARRETT’S MATURITY IMPRESSES — The Jayhawks’ only other freshman scholarship player, guard Marcus Garrett, earned Self’s praise Sunday for his ability to simply know his role.

“From a talent standpoint, he’s probably not as prepared as Josh (Jackson),” Self said. “But from an intangible standpoint he’s probably as prepared as anyone we’ve had. He has figured out how he can make the team better, and it fits Devonte’ (Graham) and it fits Malik (Newman) and it fits Lagerald (Vick) and Doke (Azubuike). Where some people, what they think can make the team better doesn’t fit those guys.”

Often the tendency for young players, Self said, is to think they can only help the team by posting gaudy individual statistics. He doesn’t see that trait in Garrett.

“That doesn’t mean (he’ll) always play great,” Self said, “but certainly he’s been impressive for us so far.”

Garrett, 6-5, can switch ball screens, is a willing passer and has earned the all-important Self label of “tough” just months into his KU career. He knows he can shoot, the KU coach added, but he also knows some players can shoot better.

Perhaps most importantly, given the Jayhawks’ lack of frontcourt depth, Self said Garrett has the toughness to play one-through-four.

“If you have a group in a game that, let’s say if he’s in the game with Svi (Mykhailiuk), Malik, and Devonte’, well, somebody’s got to be able to guard the other team’s four man,” Self said. “He’s tough enough that I think he can be more than adequate doing that.”