Kansas Jayhawks: Projecting The Starting Shooting Guards

Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self huddles with his team – Credit: USA Today

The Kansas Jayhawks have lost three guards since the end of the season – Andrew Wiggins to the NBA Draft, and Naadir Tharpe and Andrew White III to transfer. Wiggins and White were off guards, and they left holes in the starting line up, and in the depth of the overall roster.

As usual, Head Coach Bill Self had a plan. He has brought in a swing guard/small forward to replace Wiggins, and a point guard to compete for minutes in Tharpe’s vacated roster spot, plus another guard who may be in line for minutes at either point guard or shooting guard.

With the 2014 NBA Draft quickly approaching, Andrew Wiggins and former teammate Joel Embiid have brought a little more spotlight and prestige to the Kansas Jayhawks program. These two former Jayhawks had a good chance to go 1-2 in the draft, but Embiid broke his foot this past week, and had to undergo surgery. Who knows how far he will drop in the draft.

Regardless, playing basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks gives players who develop quickly a chance to be drafted in the first round. Three, maybe four, shooting guards on this year’s roster have a chance to earn starting spots in the line-up this season. One seems locked down, but the other off guard spot is wide open at this point.

Be sure to check out our projections for the starting big men for the Jayhawks.

The best performing shooting guard on the defensive end may very well the nod early in the season. There are some really good candidates to man these two roster spots.