As most everyone across America knows by now, the New York Knicks are the 2025-26 NBA champions. They did so by defeating the San Antonio Spurs in five games, capturing the franchise's first title in 53 years. While Jalen Brunson was named Finals MVP alongside a lineup of stars like Karl Anthony-Towns and OG Anunoby, for people in the Kansas area, the victory shone a light on two Knicks players who were uberly effective on their respective local college teams.
Kevin McCullar, who played two seasons for Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks in 2023-24, and Landry Shamet, who was a part of the Wichita State Shockers for all three years of his college career from 2016-18. While McCullar was just in his second professional campaign and saw increased playing time in the regular season, he is still a growing project and did not see any live action in the playoffs.
Shamet, however, was a flamethrower throughout the playoffs for the Knicks off the bench, hitting three after three, much like he did all those years back as a Shocker. Without his clutch shot-making in multiple games, there's a question if the Knicks even make the finals without his efforts.
Kevin McCullar and Landry Shamet can forever call themselves NBA champs
It was in his final season at KU that McCullar truly flourished into a number one option for the Jayhawks, scoring over 18 points per game on 45% shooting from the field to go along with six rebounds and four assists per contest. It was this jump that prompted the Phoenix Suns to draft him 56th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, before quickly trading him to the Knicks, where he signed a two-way contract.
McCullar's best game of this past season came in the 82nd and last game of the regular season, where he scored a career high 14 points in 24 minutes off of 6-11 from the field. For the 29-year-old Shamet, he had been on multiple teams throughout his career since being a late first-round pick in 2018. He's a savvy veteran who was entrusted by head coach Mike Brown to play in a sort of 6th man role off the bench for the Knicks.
And boy did he produce, specifically in the playoffs. Shamet at one point hit 23 of his last 33 three-point attempts. Ask any Wichita State Shocker fan, and that will not surprise them, as Shamet was just as much of a long-range sniper for the Knicks as he was in college. He shot the three-ball at a 44% clip in his final two years and made the All-ACC team in his final season.
Neither McCullar nor Shamet is a superstar in the NBA. Very few are. What's impressive is that they both played a role, however big or small, in helping a storied team like the New York Knicks win a title that a fanbase had been craving for half a century. Who knew that'd be part of the former Jayhawks' and Shockers' basketball journeys?
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