Summer workouts have been in full swing for Jayhawks basketball, as KU prepares for a bounce-back season from a year ago when they fell to St. John's in the round of 32 to a buzzer-beating layup. Head coach Bill Self enters his 24th season at the helm for Kansas and has already built a Hall of Fame career if he stepped away right now.
But Self is still one of the best in the sport, and this year's latest recruiting class and additions via the transfer portal only prove further how much pull he and the dream of playing in a storied building like Allen Fieldhouse bring. KU landed the number one high school prospect for the second straight year in 6'8" forward Tyran Stokes, as well as Stokes' childhood friend and five-star point guard Taylen Kinney.
Self was also able to acquire four-stars Davion Adkins and Luke Barnett, as well as retain sophomore three-point specialist and defender Kohl Rosario and budding star center Paul Mbiya. Additions via the transfer portal have also been notable landing fifth-year center Christian Reeves, multi-year starter at Utah State Keanu Dawes, senior scorer Dennis Parker Jr., and 6'1" sophomore guard Leroy Blyden Jr.
Kansas' long-tenured head coach remains confident in the Jayhawks' ultimate ceiling
"Yeah, I think we've had a good summer," Self said of the team in a recent press conference. "I think we've certainly improved since the end of last year, with our two returning guys and the new guys have all gotten better. It's been a good group to coach; they have been very teachable and certainly hooked up and gotten after it. So I've been real pleased."
Self alluded to it himself, but the fact that KU has just two returners from last year in Rosario and Mboya speaks to how functionally different this team is going to be compared to last year. Both in terms of personnel, talent at each position, strengths, weaknesses, and at the end of the day, the ability to stack wins on top of each other.
"I think we've kind of learned that there's a way we should play offensively to give us the best chance, and I think guys have all bought into that. This year I think we'll be more balanced, and we have a collective of better and willing passers, and of course Tyran's the key to that."
In truth, the Jayhawks' offense was a mishmash of guys who had just one or two premier strengths but never really fit all that well. And it didn't help that Darryn Peterson was in-and-out of the lineup the entire campaign. KU last year shot just 45.1% from the field as a team and 34.6% from three. They had to win with defense, which is one of Self's calling cards as a coach.
What the Jayhawks have lacked over recent years is guys who can shoot the ball from beyond the arc and lock down defensively. And this year's roster looks like it's got a plethora of 6'4" to 6'9" wings who can do that. Mbiya and Reeves are massive presences on the inside, and Kinney and Blyden can both score but also facilitate. And as Self said, Tyran Stokes is at the center of it all. If he can prove to be as good as his potential allows him to be, the Jayhawks could really make a run for Self's third national title.
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