Sports Illustrated
In both 2023 and ’24, Kansas entered the season as the No. 1 team in the AP poll. Instead of another banner, the Jayhawks instead set records both years for most single-season losses under Bill Self. Last season’s stumble from the top of the sport in the preseason to 13 defeats and a first-round NCAA tournament exit was particularly ugly. The offense, anchored by a trio of veterans in Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams Jr., was uninspired at its best and ugly at its worst. It was obvious it was time for a new look in Lawrence, Kans.
The roster has been almost completely reset: Kansas returns just one rotation player (talented sophomore big Flory Bidunga) and a pair of guys who redshirted last season. The coaching staff has been updated, with former Jayhawk player and two-time NBA head coach Jacque Vaughn returning to Kansas to assist Self. This year will say a lot about Self’s long-term ability to adapt to the annual roster-flipping era of college hoops. His coaching credentials are near-flawless and even in “down” years he’ll likely have Kansas highly competitive nationally, but winning big this year would be a statement that the last couple years’ struggles had more to do with a flawed core than anything else.
If nothing else, this year’s Kansas team will enter the year with lower outside expectations than any Self team in years. They ranked 19th in the preseason AP poll, lowest since 2008–09. But with the potential No. 1 pick leading the way, the Jayhawks have the talent to overachieve and rejoin the elite teams at the top of the sport.
Projected Starting Lineup
PG: Darryn Peterson
SG: Melvin Council Jr.
SF: Kohl Rosario
PF: Tre White
C: Flory Bidunga
Key Reserves: G Elmarko Jackson, G Jayden Dawson, F Bryson Tiller
Key Additions
Everything for Kansas centers around freshman Darryn Peterson, who scouts consider to be the best guard prospect to hit college in at least five years (Cade Cunningham) and potentially a lot longer than that. The Ohio native is an absolutely electric player to watch with the ball in his hands. He’s an elite three-level scorer with the upside to lead the NBA in scoring at some point in his career, but he’s also a more effective playmaker than you might expect. His two-way impact may not match what Cooper Flagg brought to Duke last year, but Peterson has every chance to be one of the most impactful freshmen in recent college hoops history. And Kansas will put the ball in his hands from Day 1, if for no other reason than that the rest of the roster around him is largely built of role players rather than other potential high-usage stars.
The core of Kansas’s offense will likely be pick-and-rolls between Peterson and Bidunga, an elite athlete who should catch plenty of lobs this season. Bidunga tested the portal this spring before returning and could be one of the top breakout guys in the sport this season. He’s also a key for Kansas defensively thanks to his rim protection ability.
The pieces around that duo are fairly undefined at this point. Tre White seems like the safest bet to carve out a starting spot after averaging 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds at Illinois a year ago. He’s a big, versatile player on the defensive end who just hasn’t been consistent enough from three in his career. Also in from the portal are a pair of guards from the A-10 in Melvin Council Jr. (St. Bonaventure) and Jayden Dawson (Loyola Chicago). Council is a fierce competitor who’s effective getting to the rim and can take some ballhandling responsibilities off Peterson’s plate. Dawson brings some much-needed three-point shooting to the table and is highly effective running off screens.
A trio of freshmen could also factor into the rotation in some form. Kohl Rosario is another big-time shooter who reclassified to join the Jayhawks this summer after a big spring on the AAU circuit. Bryson Tiller and Paul Mbiya should help out up front: Tiller’s a more skilled and versatile offensive weapon, while Mbiya is the type of big, bruising five-man that Self has traditionally used.
Causes for Concern
Kansas is putting much pressure on Peterson to be one of the best players in the country from Day 1. The players they added from the portal are role players on a good team but not stars, and while Bidunga could have a big year he’s not someone to build an offense around. Teams will throw just about every coverage at Peterson to force the ball out of his hands and make other Jayhawks beat them.
And given shooting/spacing has been such a problem the last two years for Kansas, you’d have expected them to add more shooting this spring and summer. Dawson, Rosario and redshirt sophomore Elmarko Jackson could give them just enough, but Council and White aren’t great shooters and seem primed for key roles next to Peterson. Will the floor get clogged in those lineups?
The Bottom Line
This is a critical year at Kansas to prove that the last two years aren’t a trend and to maximize their time with a potentially generational prospect in Peterson. If Peterson is as good as I expect him to be, he’ll cover a lot of the flaws with this roster. But there’s little margin for error here, and the road won’t be easy with a tough nonconference schedule in addition to the loaded Big 12 slate.