This might’ve been the most unconventional offseason for Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks yet.
Needless to say, there was a lot on the line. The decision to stay meant Self needed to reconstruct his roster essentially from top to bottom, and do so whether or not Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2026, committed to Kansas.
Stokes did make the call to play in Lawrence, and now, weeks later, Self has a blueprint in front of him with veterans Keanu Dawes from Utah and Christian Reeves, who recently underwent shoulder surgery to repair his labrum, from Charleston to fill the void left by outbound Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller.
Kansas spent roughly $9.5 million on its roster last season via NIL, and it’s quite clear the transfer pool wasn’t exactly flushed this offseason, either. Self and company will need to address whether Reeves is going to be 100% by the start of the season, but the fact is the roster is coming together with upside in the incoming freshman class, as well, with another five-star recruit in Taylen Kinney.
SELF ON HIS NEW ROSTER
A Self-led team hasn’t hoisted a Big 12 title since 2023.
But does Self feel his roster is any more suited to do so? And how does the 63-year-old head coach view the new process recruiting in such a tight window? New reporting by CJ Moore of The Athletic taps into those questions, including some of Self’s thoughts on Stokes and the roster at-large.
Kansas has two five-star freshman in Stokes and Kinney, as well as two returning contributors in 7-foot Congo native Paul Mbiya and 6-foot-6 guard Kohl Rosario of Miami, Florida.
“I feel really good about our roster,” Self told The Athletic. “I also think we got two steals: Paul Mbiya and Kohl Rosario. Nobody’s seen them play like they’re capable of playing. And so I thought it was really important to get those two guys to come back.”
Like with Darryn Peterson, Self is bringing in another star freshman in Stokes to potentially turn the page from an other disappointing to Peterson’s short run at Kansas. Peterson is currently a consensus top-3 pick following a limited freshman campaign due to a full-body cramping scare last fall.
Stokes, too, is a player with high expectations entering the 2026-27 season.
“I think he’s gonna be fantastic,” Self said of Stokes. “We’ve heard all that difficult (reputation). And you look at it, yeah, he’s emotional. Yeah, he plays with emotion. Yeah, there’s some things that he can probably do differently in a way. But in my experience, I’d much rather have those guys, the emotional guys that play with the chip all the time than have to prod them to go the other direction. So I couldn’t be more excited to have him here.”
BIDUNGA AND THE BIGGER BUSINESS
Former Kansas big Flory Bidunga entered the transfer portal while entertaining his NBA Draft prospects, and, as of Thursday, the former Jayhawk remains in the draft despite officially signing with Louisville earlier this week.
“When you look at it, what if Flory stays in the (NBA Draft), and we committed all that money to him,” Self said. “Then what are we doing? Who do we have? There’s more to it than ‘Does he want to be here?’ and ‘Do we want him here?’ There’s a financial component to it, and there’s also a realistic component against it.”
In place of Bidunga, Kansas acquired multiple options at the 4 and 5 spots with Dawes, Reeves, and Dennis Parker Jr. (Radford); Incoming freshmen Davion Adkins, Trent Perry and Grant Mordini will all at least get their shot at minutes as Self chips away at his starting five.
Self told the Athletic “your best prospects are usually gonna be your youngest kids,” and that’s certainly been the case in recent seasons with guys like Johnny Furphy, Gradey Dick and now Peterson all hitting the draft window after just one season of college ball
Self touched on the changing recruiting dynamic, too, and how a limited budget places weight on every transfer they bring into the program.
“You may have on the 2008 (national championship) team seven NBA players,” Self said. “Your misses aren’t magnified. Here, your misses are more magnified because you can only pay a certain number of players, and if you miss on those guys, it’s a bigger deal.
“In the past, if you recruit four guys and two of them turn out to be great, that’s a pretty good return on your investment. Now, you recruit four guys, three of them better be studs, because those are the guys you’re paying the money to.”
WHO GETS THE BAG
Kansas is expected to spent anywhere from the $9.5 million from last year or more to compensate its upcoming men’s basketball roster.
This will come, too, as the school completes its football stadium project with a total price south of $800 million. Naturally, that’ll put a strain on every other program – including hoops.
But as roster costs only rise, it’s an interesting point in the story at Kansas whether this roster, largely fed by the transfer portal and Self’s latest recruiting class, will pay off amid a troublesome financial situation for the athletic department.
These are not by any means “bad players,” but it’s hard to place this Jayhawks roster in the top 10 merely 2-3 players alone. But, as Self has now said, the margin of error might be that small.
