🏀 Kansas Men’s Basketball Adds Two Transfers - Morris and Timberlake

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Guards Arterio Morris and Nicolas Timberlake have transferred to Kansas, KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self announced today. Both student-athletes will be immediately eligible for the 2023-24 season.

Morris, 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, comes to Kansas from Texas, where he was a freshman in 2022-23. The Dallas native came off the bench in all 38 games for the Longhorns, who won the Big 12 Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional final. Morris averaged 11.7 minutes and 4.6 points per game, and made 29 three-point field goals as a freshman. He recorded six games of 10 points or more, including a career-high 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting, 5-for-7 threes, in just 18 minutes versus Louisiana (Dec. 21).

Morris was a 2022 McDonald’s All-American while at Kimball High School in Dallas. A five-star recruit, Morris was ranked as the No. 15 prospect nationally by Rivals.com and No. 17 by 247Sports.com and ESPN100.

“Arterio was highly recruited coming out of high school and we watched him a ton his senior year at Kimball,” Self said. “When he entered the portal, we went right after him. Arterio is one of the most talented guards in the country who hasn’t scratched the surface of his potential. He can defend. He can slide. His explosiveness and versatility will be a great addition to our team.”

Timberlake, 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, from Braintree, Massachusetts, will be a super senior in 2023-24 after transferring to Kansas from Towson.

“Shooting was one of the things we needed to replace from last year’s team and with Nicolas we feel like we’ve done that,” Self said. “He’s a proven shooter. He shot 42 percent from three last year which ranked high nationally, while averaging 18 points a game, which shows his scoring ability. Being a four-year guy at Towson, Nicolas comes here with a lot of experience.”

A two-time All-Colonial Athletics Association (CAA) First Team selection in 2022 and 2023, Timberlake led Towson in scoring at 17.7 points per game in 2022-23, which ranked third in the CAA. He shot 45.5 percent from the field, including 41.6 percent from three-point range, which was second in the CAA and 13th nationally. Timberlake led the CAA with an 84.5 free throw percentage, had 12 games of 20-plus points and three 30-point performances, including a career-high 34 points against Charleston on Feb. 23. Additionally, Timberlake was named to the 2023 CAA All-Tournament Team after averaging 18.0 points in two tourney games.

The 2020 CAA Sixth Man of the Year, Timberlake started 90-of-122 games played at Towson, including every game for the last three seasons. He is the school’s all-time leader in three-point field goal made with 233 and three pointers attempted with 614. Timberlake comes to Kansas with career totals of 1,522 points (12.5 ppg), 470 rebounds (3.9 rpg), 193 assists (1.6) and 100 steals (2.5).

Prior to Towson, Timberlake played the 2017-18 season at Kimball Union Academy prep school in New Hampshire. He graduated from Braintree High School in 2017.

With the additions of Morris and Timberlake, Kansas now has six newcomers set to join the program for the 2023-24 season. The duo joins Marcus Adams Jr. (G, 6-8, 205, Torrance, California), Elmarko Jackson (G, 6-3, 185, Marlton, New Jersey, South Kent School [Conn.]), Chris Johnson (G, 6-4, 180, Fort Bend, Texas, Montverde Academy [Fla.]) and Jamari McDowell (G, 6-4, 180, Manvel, Texas, Manvel High School).