Kansas Finding its Stride with Johhny Furphy in Starting Five
The Kansas Jayhawks started the season with some very impressive victories, including a win over the current #1 team in the nation. Head coach Bill Self does a great job of testing his guys early and trying to set them up for success when conference play starts. However, the strong start to the season was a bit derailed in the past couple of weeks with road losses to a couple of teams that were projected to be near the bottom of the conference: new Big 12 opponent UCF and the new-look West Virginia Mountaineers.
Losing on the road in the best basketball conference in America can’t be seen as embarrassing, but for Kansas, a team that prides itself on winning conference championships and being in the hunt for national championships, it stings a little bit more seeing other teams and their fans storming the court after losses early in conference play.
After an exodus of players to the NBA, graduation, and the transfer portal, the Jayhawks only brought back three major contributors from last season. Kevin McCullar, KJ Adams, and Dejuan Harris were the trio Self would need to lean on, but bringing in quality players to compete at a high level was always the priority. Hunter Dickinson, the top player in the transfer portal brought a big man presence to the starting lineup. However, the fifth starting spot had been an open competition since summer camps.
Elmarko Jackson ended up getting the nod as the fifth starter to begin the season, but it never seemed like that was set in stone. Jackson, while he had his moments, struggled through non-conference play and would often get into foul trouble. It wasn’t clear how his game fit within this specific group of players in the starting rotation. After a few sluggish starts as conference play was underway, Self decided to make a change.
He could have gone to super-senior transfer from Towson, Nick Timberlake, to fill the void. However, he’d been hit-or-miss throughout the first part of the season as well. That’s when Self decided to zig when others may have zagged. He turned to Johnny Furphy, the true freshman from Melbourne, Australia.
Furphy had been a spark off the bench early in the season, typically averaging around 14 minutes per game while adding six points or so. However, he showed flashes of brilliance early, adding 15 points in 20 minutes in their second game of the season against Manhattan. He always brought a lot of energy and it was easy to see his teammates feeding off it. Self rewarded Furphy with his first start of the season on the road at Oklahoma State. Furphy was an immediate factor for the Jayhawks, playing 33 minutes while shooting 5-6 from the field (including 3-4 from behind the arc) as he finished the game with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Furphy’s second start of the season came on the road in Morgantown, West Virginia. This was a special game for Furphy as his parents flew to America to see their son play in college for the first time. He had another solid game, putting up 13 points and seven rebounds, but he finished the game with four fouls. Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, and Furphy’s parents who flew thousands of miles to see him play, the Mountaineers topped Kansas 91-85. The good news for the Furphy family was a quick turnaround. KU was able to host Cincinnati in Lawrence, Kansas at historic Allen Fieldhouse on ESPN’s “Big Monday” primetime slot. This time, the Jayhawks didn’t disappoint and Furphy led the charge with his first career double-double. He scored a career-high in points with 23, a career-high in rebounds with 11 while adding two steals in a season-high 36 minutes played. It’s safe to say Furphy has solidified his spot in the starting
lineup and he is exactly what the Jayhawks have needed out of their fifth starter.
While Dickinson and McCullar will always be the team’s go-to offensive firepower players, Harris will continue to be the table-setter, and Adams and Furphy will need to be the complementary pieces that can score when necessary. When Dickinson got into foul trouble, Furphy stepped up as the team’s leading scorer and was billed the most outstanding player of the game by the ESPN crew.
Furphy’s emergence into the starting lineup in mid-January could be a game-changer for the Jayhawks who had been desperately looking for an answer to fill that spot all season. Depth may continue to be an issue for the Jayhawks, but having a guy like Furphy giving 30+ minutes per game will be a nice boost going forward for Kansas. As conference play continues, things won’t get any easier for the Jayhawks. If Furphy can continue to play at a high level, that will help Kansas and their chances to win their fourth Big 12 title in five years and 16 of the last 20.
