By Joanna Chadwick

Larry Dennis, who would have been a senior at East High, plans to enroll at Sunrise Christian.

“I just heard about how good the school was and the basketball program,” Dennis said. “I had my mom call to get information on the school. I liked the coaches there. They have a good team and they travel a lot. I just want to get better. I feel they will help me a lot to get better on the court and get stronger in the weight room.”

Dennis has offers from Denver, North Texas and Western Kentucky.

Asked about leaving the City League and one of the top programs in Kansas, Dennis said, “I didn’t leave the City League to get out. I wanted to find a place where I could get a lot better.”

Dennis, who is 6-foot-9, has a nice jumper and is a smooth player. There were times during the past season when he was a brilliant player, scoring six straight points on jumpers or throwing down a dunk.

And then he’d get real quiet in the game and wouldn’t score again or rarely after that.

He’s an intriguing player.

That he’s going to Sunrise Christian is, well, an interesting move. He would have been one of the City League’s top players. Clearly, North’s Conner Frankamp will be the league’s elite, but a lot of the other star players graduated.

Gone are Perry Ellis, Terrence Moore and Gavin Thurman. Gone are Craig Nicholson and Spenser Gales. Gone are Jalen Love and Nathan Jackson.

Dennis seemed poised to become one of the league’s stars.

Sunrise Christian coach Kyle Lindsted, who has coached his share of stars, was surprised to hear from Dennis, a player he wasn’t familiar with.

“I think Larry’s a very skilled, talented player for his size, athletic. I just think his toughness has to improve for the next level. I think playing against our guys every day will help him tremendously,” Lindsted said.

Sunrise travels across the nation and was ranked ninth in the final MaxPreps poll for academies.