The Kansas men’s basketball team accomplished a rare feat on Thursday.
The Jayhawks had zero players enter the transfer portal. In fact, KU was just one of five programs (Kansas, Marquette, Army, Navy, and Binghamton) that did not have players enter the portal.
Last year, the Jayhawks had seven players transfer out.
There’s something to be said about that level of continuity, especially in this day and age of college basketball.
The Jayhawks bring back at least six players from last season — KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris, Elmarko Jackson, Zach Clemence and Jamari McDowell.
Not to mention, the door is open for Johnny Furphy to return from the NBA Draft process.
The Jayhawks kept their key players from last season while getting much-needed shooting from the transfer portal (Zeke Mayo, Rylan Griffin, AJ Storr).
With that, let’s get to another Jayhawks Q&A!
If Johnny Furphy comes back, what would KU’s starting lineup be? @NickSpringer29
I envision the starting lineup to be Harris, Storr, Furphy, Adams, and Dickinson. I envision Storr, who averaged 16.8 ppg last season, playing a role similar to that of Kevin McCullar.
The bench minutes will be the most interesting thing to watch with this squad. I anticipate Mayo and Jackson would get the most minutes, and then Griffin. Riley Kugel will battle with McDowell for minutes at the two or the three. Clemence will likely be Dickinson’s backup.
If you could only go to one KU football game (home or away) this season, which one would you go to? — @kylecoffey11
It’s without a doubt Kansas vs. Colorado on Nov. 23 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. I think the hype around that game will be intense — as both teams could play in a bowl game next year (with aspirations for more).
Coach Deion Sanders gets people invested in college football, whether they love or hate him.
Just this past weekend, Sanders and his son Shedeur — CU’s star QB — embraced the villain role.
Former Buffs safety Xavier Smith told The Athletic that Deion Sanders “Never even tried to get to know me” and that he “was destroying guys’ confidence and belief in themselves.”
Naturally, Shedeur chirped back on X (formerly Twitter) tweeting: “Bro had to be very mid at best.” From there, things escalated with Colorado receiver Kaleb Mathis posting a video of him beating Smith in practice.
After a back and forth that involved more players and screenshots of stats, Deion Sanders chimed in. “Lawd Jesus,” he responded to a post mocking an Austin Peay teammate of Smith’s over his stats.
Later on, Sanders defended his son and the Buffs’ 4-8 record last season.
“He will be a top 5 pick,” Deion Sanders said. “Where yo son going ? Lololol I got time today. Lololol.”
How often do you see a college football coach engage in trash talk? But that’s what makes Deion Sanders such a great villain; he’s cocky, brash and a tad arrogant, so he’s easy to root against. But he certainly knows how to grab headlines and people’s attention.
I think he’s the greatest villain in college football, and I eagerly look forward to Colorado’s performance this season and matchup against KU.
If Bill Self truly wants to move on from 23-24’s difficulties and glaring issues, the starting 1-4 positions all have to be up for grabs, right? — @JAndrew_Cochran
I think I’m a little on the fence about this. Listen, I understand last year was a failure for the Jayhawks, and the shooting issues were glaring.
However, KU’s starting lineup was still its second-best lineup all year, with a team-adjusted efficiency margin of +38.1.
The biggest thing with the lineup was that it lacked shooting. If Furphy doesn’t return, you could start Mayo or Griffin alongside Storr, which could help alleviate those concerns.
I understand the reason for wanting a new starting lineup, but expecting Self to send either Adams or Harris to the bench isn’t realistic.
With the plethora of monsters in the Kansas DB group (assuming Marvin Grant/OJ Burroughs start at safety, Cobee Bryant/Mello Dotson/Damarius McGhee at CB), do you think this might be a better overall DB group than KU has ever had, including the Chris Harris, Aqib Talib days? — @zero_dark_zilla
Boy, that’s a great question. I certainly think it’s close, but I lean toward Harris and Talib’s group.
In his senior season, Harris had 82 total tackles and two sacks. Meanwhile, Bryant had 32 total tackles and four interceptions. So, it’s a bit of picking what you value between those two players, but the gap between Dotson and Talib is why I like the Harris/ Talib group.
While Dotson had 37 tackles and four interceptions last season, Talib had 66 tackles and five interceptions and helped KU to a 12-1 record. Darrell Stuckey was another important piece of that secondary in the 2007 season, and he went on to play in the NFL.
KU’s current group is supremely talented, but Harris and Talib were extraordinary talents and that’s why I give them the edge.
Any word on when KUFB single game tickets go on sale? – @capitaljayhawk
I asked a few KU Athletics officials, but a date hasn’t been set yet. Still, here’s a link to KU Arrowhead ticket packages — if you are interested .
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