Zeke Mayo describes 'surreal moment' of committing to Kansas

Commitments can be significant for more reasons than one. That’s certainly how you could view Zeke Mayo’s considering what it means to him to be a Jayhawk.

Mayo recently described what it felt like to commit to Kansas as a native of Lawrence. He said it was pretty special to tell Bill Self that he wanted to make a homecoming for his senior season.

“I mean the moment that I was sitting in Coach’s office and I told him I wanted to come home. It was a surreal moment because, you know, like, a kid like me dreams of this kind of stuff,” Mayo recalled. “Just the moment I told him I committed, it just all hit me.”

Mayo, a product of Lawrence High School, spent his first three collegiate seasons at South Dakota State. In 102 games as a Jackrabbit, he averaged 15.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, three assists, and a steal on 45% shooting overall and 38.8% from three. That includes his career year as a junior this past season in Brookings by posting 18.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 46.6% from the field and 39.1% from three on 2.6 makes a game.

Mayo left them as a two-time All-Summit League First Teamer and the most recent Summit League Player of the Year. He also helped them to a 71-31 (.696) record, including a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Mayo is now one of five players from the transfer portal that have come to Kansas. He joined the program this offseason along with AJ Storr, Rylan Griffen, Shakeel Moore, and Noah Shelby. Together they make up the No. 6 class in On3’s 2024 Team Transfer Portal Rankings. Mayo ranks among the best in the group as the No. 16 overall transfer and the No. 3 PG.

Now they, along with Mayo, have the task of upholding the expectations within Allen Fieldhouse, especially since they’re all but certain to enter next season among the very top teams in the nation.

“It just lets me know, KU? We have a standard here and we want to win. We’re going to try to get the best players possible to compete at the highest level,” said Mayo. “We’re all going to come in and compete.”

Lawrence, Kansas is home for Mayo and, through the transfer portal, he was able to come back to it and will play for his home-state school. That has led to plenty of excitement for him in this new opportunity in a very familiar place.

“It’s very exciting for me personally just being a local kid, you know,” Mayo said. “We’re really looking forward to the summer.”