Last season was a… dumpster fire for the Kansas men’s basketball team as they fell from the No. 1 team in the nation to a first-round elimination in the NCAA Tournament.
Now, head coach Bill Self has struggled to restructure and rebuild a team that is considered to be one of the national blue bloods in college basketball. Currently, Self and the Jayhawks have the No. 62 transfer portal class and the No. 43 recruiting class of 2025, a far cry from blue-blood level talent.
Because of the recent shortcomings and the lack of blue-chip talent joining the roster, Jon Rothstein, a national college basketball insider, doesn’t have high hopes for the Jayhawks in the upcoming season.
“Kansas would not be in the top five of the Big 12. I’d go Houston, I’d go BYU, I’d go Texas Tech, Arizona, and Iowa State,” Rothstein said. “Looking right now at the roster that Kansas has assembled, I see nothing but questions.”
Rothstein knows ball, he isn’t some end-of-the-world naysayer about blue-blood programs just because he has a platform. He has been an insider and a contributor for CBS Sports for a decade and a half, and consistently is the first person with breaking news about college hoops.
“Kansas is two legitimate players away from being ‘vintage Kansas,'” Rothstein added. “From having a dog in the fight.”
He’s right. Not only did Kansas crumble last season, it lost two of its star players, who were supposed to carry the Jayhawks to glory last year, in guard Dajuan Harris Jr. and center Hunter Dickinson. Now, Self is having to rebuild his illustrious program and is falling well short of success.
Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball projected 2025-26 starting lineup
- Darryn Peterson – point guard
- Jayden Dawson – shooting guard
- Tre White – small forward
- Bryson Tiller – power forward
- Flory Bidunga – center
Peterson is a true freshman but is a five-star prospect who is expected to make an immediate impact. However, he’s still a freshman. Dawson transferred to Kansas from the Loyola Chicago Ramblers and has never played a game at the Power Conference level. White also transferred to Kansas, which will be his fourth school in four years, as he has struggled to find his footing in college.
Tiller committed to the Jayhawks in 2024 but utilized his redshirt during last year, so the upcoming season will be his true premiere at the collegiate level. Bidunga is the only true returning star for the Jayhawks, earning 16.3 minutes per game last season.
Yes, the talent is there, hopefully. However, Self is going to have to put in a lot of effort to ensure that his under-experienced lineup can work together to bring Kansas back to the dominant force that it can (and should) be.
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