Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - BEST PLAYER?: Kansas Jayhawks' Tyran Stokes Could DOMINATE College Basketball for Bill Self

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's the moment you've been waiting for. Our KU basketball player previews continue on with Tyron Stokes. Best player in the country. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Derek Johnson here? This is Locked on Jayhawks. And on today's episode of the show, we're going to be previewing Tyrant Stokes.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Continue on with our KU basketball player previews. Also get to some of the latest news, including some of the latest news, including some of the latest on the portal front. But sorry here with Tyron Stokes. And it's interesting because this, this comes on the, I guess, back burner of there was an interesting article from CBS Sports, you know, talking to different anonymous like coaches and stuff across college basketball. And they were polled on who they thought the best player in college of basketball would be. And the number one pick was Thomas Hogg at Florida, who he was like over 40% of the answers, like pretty clearly the number one, pretty big fall off to number two. It was like Jeremy Fears at 15%.

Starting point is 00:01:13 Tyrant Stokes got about 5% of the votes. He was in the top five or six of the voting here. But it is interesting because when you look at the, you know, supposedly the class of 2026 is down a little bit. I mean, certainly it would be hard not to in comparison with. with what the class of 2025 just did. Obviously, the five and five stuff and the court rulings is kind of changing the player pool and making it better, more experienced. So that's changing every day now.

Starting point is 00:01:44 But theoretically, it felt like at least before that started happening that the talent pool overall was kind of down this year in comparison to maybe the last couple of years of college basketball. Like I said, some of the rule changes might change that. And so you look at it and like there is a very real pathway for. Tyron Soakes being the very best player in the country. And if he does that, you know, it's like what is, what is the floor for what Kansas can be? Because Kansas got a four seed working around a freshman one and done situation with Darren Peterson last year.

Starting point is 00:02:17 But that was a situation where he was missing games and we know the circus that kind of came with it. If Tyrant Sokes actually is the best player in the country and playing all these games for you, what does that mean for Bill Self and KU, right? So he's a six foot seven, two hundred. 130 pound wing. I certainly find it interesting and maybe a bit of a thought experiment. If you look at KU's roster, they do list him as a guard, which I think kind of backs up the idea that like he's going to initiate the basketball.

Starting point is 00:02:45 He is going to be the guy with the ball in his hands and a lot of different actions and sets for KU. But he's a freshman with number one NBA draft pick potential. He obviously became the fourth number one recruit. The KU was signed over the last 15 seasons. when you add in Andrew Wiggins, Andrew Wiggins, Josh Jackson, and just last year with Darren Peterson and now Stokes.

Starting point is 00:03:11 But he was at Rainier Beach last season after he transferred over from, I don't know if he was booted from school or what the situation was, but you put up ridiculous stats up in Seattle, 31 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals per game. And then in the McDonald's All-American game, we're talking 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks. He was also the Jordan Classic MVP.

Starting point is 00:03:34 He went for 29 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. So you see the theme there. It is filling up the stat sheet, grabbing a ton of rebounds, getting a bunch of assists, just doing a little bit of everything here. And then you look to the summer circuits, which are maybe the most prevalent, the most helpful in trying to project things out. So he goes from averaging 10 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3 assists per game as a freshman. at the Geico Nationals when he earned Max Prep's freshman All-American honors.

Starting point is 00:04:06 And then he ended up being invited to the 2023 NBAPA Top 100 camp. The only players from the class of 26 that were invited were him and A.J. DeBantza. Obviously, DeBanza ended up reclassifying and moving to the class of 25. But then a week later, at the Nike Peach Jam, again, this is a freshman. Stokes averaged 11.5 points. 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game shooting 51% from the floor as he helped his team finish second place. So then sophomore season, he averages over 13 points, nearly six rebounds over three assists per game, helps prolific prep at that point, you know, get to the Chipotle Nationals again or Max Prep All America Honors this time as a sophomore. more. And then he won up what he does at the Nike Peach Jam, 20.4 points per game, nine rebounds and

Starting point is 00:05:04 3.4 assists per game, and again helps them go far in the tournament, reaches the final. And in the final, they lose. But the team they lost to in the finals was the team that had Cam Booser and Caleb Wilson on it. I guess you could say and Caden Boozer too. But like Cam Booser and Caleb Wilson, who at that point are what, two years older than him? And in that game in the final, he had 22 points and nine rebounds. That is as impressive as anything there, right? When you're two years younger, playing in that game, you ball out, you lead your team to the title. You end up losing, but to a star-studded team of guys older than you.

Starting point is 00:05:39 So then in the next off season, Nike Peach Jam, he ends up leading everyone in rebounds per game, which again, if you're viewing him as a wing guard, that is super impressive. And he was also second in points per game in the contest. The only guy who had more was actually his teammate, Jason Crowe, Jr., who he'll play play this year when KU takes on Missouri, right? And then obviously there's there's plenty of experience playing at the international level. You're talking to him winning a gold medal with the U.S. at the under 16 championships in which he, it's funny because if you look at Feeba numbers, they don't like jump off the page at all. Um, like because you're looking at like Tyron Stokes like FIFA numbers.

Starting point is 00:06:18 These aren't going to sound that incredible, right? He averaged 10.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game at the uh 2023 feeba u 16 america championships in mexico that is a mouthful but again but that sounds like okay that's pretty solid but like what's the big deal there well okay the reason like the thing is first of all the feeble rules like i'm trying to think they play is it four i don't remember the exact uh number of of minutes and quarters but like point being because it is a all-star team and you're trying to like you're your your platoon swapping these guys aren't playing 30 minutes in a game. So those numbers, again, they sound fine, 10.3 points, you know, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.8 steals per game. They sound bonkers when I tell

Starting point is 00:07:03 you he did that in 16 minutes per game, right? To where if you just extrapolate it out and said if he was playing 32 minutes per game in that event, he would have been averaging like 21, 10, 8, and 4, you know, like that's just stupid. And then like, just to continue with that, in 2024 for the U-17 World Cup. He helped the U.S. win a gold medal. And during that one, he played 18 minutes per game, averaging 12 points, seven rebounds, 5.6 assists compared to just one turnover per game with three stocks per game. And again, that's in 18 minutes per game, right?

Starting point is 00:07:41 He also plays at the U-19 World Cup for the U.S. and became the first USA player to ever record a triple double. in that with 1911 and 10 in 2025. So very accomplished, as you would imagine, all the stats, a lot of fun accomplishments, right? What about our 3-2-1? What about our ceiling? Latest news. We'll get to all that is locked on Jayhawks.

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Starting point is 00:09:19 Cali products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calcci.com slash regulatory. Thanks you have for joining us here on Lockdown Jayhawks and continue on with our 3-2-1 here for our player previews. Let's start with the three biggest strengths. I think the first one is passing. Going over some of those assists, like the Feebo where he's averaging, you know, over five assists on over a five-to-one assist to turnover ratio. Really impressive.

Starting point is 00:09:51 there are some seasons where maybe the turnover numbers are a little higher, but the assist numbers are higher because he's trying some difficult passes in there. So that'll be kind of a key of reeling that in. I don't know if he'll lead KU in assists per game as much as he'll have the ball in his hand. There's still our other guards who could do just that. But I'm thinking at least two and a half, three assists per game for him. And he's just a really good passer. He has really good vision.

Starting point is 00:10:17 Like that was the thing that I was really, really impressed with when I was watching like the McDonald's All-American game, for instance. The athleticism and length. Like that's everything here, right? You're 6'7 foot 7. He has a reported 7 foot wingspan. He's 230 pounds. He's a freight train who runs like a deer.

Starting point is 00:10:35 He can bowling ball somebody over. He can out-strength you. He can out-jump you and he can out-speed you. Like, he's just a freak athlete, right? He can dominate the glass because of this. He's a force in transition because of this. he's a menace at getting to the rim. He gets a bunch of free throws as a result of this, right?

Starting point is 00:10:54 It also allows him to make an impact defensively in a big way. Like, I'd imagine he'll finish top two or three on KU and steals and blocks this season. So like, freak athlete and everything with his size. And then the other one is the rebounding. Mention, you know, leading the way in rebounding in one of those, you know, summer events, just constantly putting up eight, nine, ten rebounds. per game. And that's what's got me really excited about this Kansas team is that they should be a much better rebounding team. I mean, Keanu Dawes is an unbelievable defensive rebounder,

Starting point is 00:11:29 whatever you get from the five spot from a huge dude. And then you're getting this type of rebounding from the three. Like, KU should be an awesome rebounding team this season. And Stokes is a big reason why. Now, the two big question marks here. The one is the turnover questions, like I said, three point six turnovers per game. If you look at like the EYBL in 2025, can you keep that number under three this season? Can you keep it under two and a half this season if you're Tyron Stokes? I think that would be a positive for KU. And then the other one is just the maturity, both in terms of the on-court stuff,

Starting point is 00:12:01 as well as I guess the off-court stuff, as you would say, it's all right to have fun. It's all right to be a little immature. You're still a, you know, 18-year-old or whatever. But, you know, don't let it impact your availability. Don't let it impact doing something incredibly stupid, right? And it does sound like to this point, I mean, we've got a long way to go. The things have been great and that he has been working really hard and working well with the coaching staff and everything.

Starting point is 00:12:24 But, you know, got to keep it rained in, right? And then one final thought here. The three ball is going to be really interesting with Tyrant Stokes. I think gigantic for how the season goes for him and as a team. Like if Tyrant Stokes is a 28% three point shooter, he's still going to be a really good player. You know, in Kansas, I think can still be a really good. good team. But shooting 28% from three compared to shooting 35% from three, like that could be the difference between a second team, All-American season and a national player of the year type season.

Starting point is 00:12:58 And from the KU perspective, it changes the conversation that I've been having of like, okay, I think that KU for a lot of times should have three to four, at least average to above average to good three-point shooters on the floor at all times. If Stokes isn't a good three-point Shooter, it changes that and it maybe changes the guys he can play with, right? Because then you're going to really have teams sagging off in the paint to stop his driving ability and live with his three-point shooting. You're going to need to rely on guys like Luke Barnett and Leroyden to kind of open things back up, for instance, in that scenario, just gets a lot easier if Stokes is shooting, you know, 34, 35, 36 percent himself. Meanwhile, the possible role this year and the ceiling

Starting point is 00:13:43 and floor outcome, right? I think the floor outcome, like, I guess injury would be the floor outcome, just because we kind of saw that with Darren Peterson, right? Outside of that stuff, like the floor outcome of him still being healthy is he's productive, he's putting up numbers. It's just a little inefficient. Like I said, like the three-point shooting is down a little bit. There's too many turnovers in there, but he's still producing at a high level with the counting stats. Maybe you get lost a little bit as an off ball defender where, you know, he, he's able to get some really fun highlight blocks and steals, but you're also giving up a lot of easy points by getting lost on the defensive end, not guarding your guy from three, not switching when you needed to,

Starting point is 00:14:24 you know, getting back cut or something like that. Maybe you clash with Bill Self and teammates, and it leads to a fractured locker room, so to speak. Those would be the floor outcomes here, right? The stealing outcome, though, is he's the very best player in the country, like not just the number one draft pick where you're also baking in projection to that. He's the best player in the country, right? You're talking 17 to 20 points per game. You're talking 7, 8, 9, 10 rebounds per game, 2, 3, 4 assists per game, 2 to 3 stocks per game, efficient enough shooting.

Starting point is 00:14:56 I almost think of like the path for what it looks like as him being that best player in the country is a more athletic version of Jalen Wilson, right? I mean, Jalen Wilson was, Jalen Wilson was actually a pretty good athlete in terms of if you just viewed as like, I guess like straight line speed for a four man. But if you're looking at it from a like vertical perspective, athletic pop perspective, then Jalen wasn't the best athlete there. Well, you're getting Tyron Stokes who is similar to that, but a better athlete has more vertical pop and twitch. And I think even more passing than Jalen Wilson. And Jalen Wilson was a first team All-American. So that's really darn exciting.

Starting point is 00:15:36 But the one thing you can't teach is those intangibles, you know, that's just not something that I can predict. I hope Tyron Stokes has it, but like Bill Self called Jalen Wilson one of the best winners he's ever coached, right? So my predicted role, I'm expecting Stokes to be awesome. I'm expecting him to be the lead initiator for KU. I'm expecting him to contribute everywhere. I'm expecting him to lead the team in scoring, finish top three on the team and rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks per game. I'm expecting him to be a first team all big 12 player who is a candidate to be an all-American and big 12 player the year, which probably depends on the team success and national player the year. So, yeah, pretty low expectations, right?

Starting point is 00:16:17 But I think they're all very doable. And I think this kid is unbelievably talented. And so impact on KU based on the role is everything, right? Because if he balls out, it raises the floor of everybody else, especially knowing that his skill set of passing and getting another. players open his skill set of you know getting a chase down block and covering up for somebody else defensive mistake his rebounding ability for a kU team that was not good enough rebounding a season ago he's going to cover up a lot of flaws in a lot of ways and be a like it's easy to say this now because we saw how the darren peterson thing worked out but just like trying to take the darren peterson

Starting point is 00:16:58 thing in a vacuum and being like okay what darren peterson was when he was on the court he was was basically a maxed-out pure shooting guard. He was the maxed-out version of Nick Young for KU, right? Like, he's going to shoot, he's going to take a lot, he's going to take some tough shots and be able to make him for you. He's going to be able to shoot a lot of threes and make them for you at a high level. But you're not going to get a ton of, he was also an excellent defender, was Darren Peterson. So I don't want to take away from that. We're not going to get a ton of rebounds. You're not going to get a ton of assists there. With Tyrant Stokes, his hand is in a bunch of different, you know, I don't know, honey pots. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:17:34 so to speak, like he's going to be impacting the game in a lot of other ways. I think making teammates better in a way that Darren Peterson was unable to do for KU. So Peterson, probably the better pure score and shooter than Tyrant Stokes. And Peterson wouldn't shock me if he has the better NBA career, right? But if you're talking about who is going to raise the floor, who is going to raise the games of his teammates more, I think it's Tyrant Stokes for KU. All right. Let's get some of the latest news, including some of the latest in the portal and KU visitor coming to town. This is Locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:18:19 Thanks you have for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks. Sounds like a visitor coming to town for KU, Fabian Kaiser, who we're going to try to do a deep dive on him for a bonus episode coming up here. And Kaiser is really, really good. I mean, when we did some of our international, just kind of combing over different international prospects to know where the KU. you know, could potentially kick the tires on. He was the name that came up and that we were very impressed by. It does sound like he's going to stay in his class of 27, so he'd be a next year player. I don't know. Could you get that to change? Who knows?

Starting point is 00:18:56 But regardless, we're going to do a deep dive on it because he's a really good. Like, there's some people projecting him to be, you know, a high ranking first round draft pick when he's eventually draft eligible. So that'll be a big deal having him as a visitor. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the offseason. in and in the portal here, Jackson Kohler officially entered the transfer portal, and there's a different player somewhere else starting a case against the NCAA legal case that they're suing under the grounds of basically trying to enter the transfer portal, right? If we go back to all this stuff,

Starting point is 00:19:30 the portal is officially closed. And so the players who did not have the wherewithal to enter the portal, even if they didn't know they would have their eligibility, those players are now going to probably pile onto this or create their own suit or whatever to be like, hey, of course I didn't enter the transfer portal. I didn't even think I was going to be eligible back when the date closed. And, you know, will the NCAA argue like, okay, but the other people enter the portal, why didn't you? And they would just be like, I don't know. I just, you know, I thought that was weird that they were doing that. I didn't think I was going to be eligible if I knew I would have entered, you know? So I don't know where that'll go. I'd imagine the NCAA lose that one in court.

Starting point is 00:20:09 but that point being, Kohler didn't enter back in the Spring Portal. So he needs that avenue to be able to transfer somewhere and not be listed a ghost transfer by the NCAA where he's going to cost his school, his team, his coach 50% of their games, right? So that is an important thing to note here.

Starting point is 00:20:31 But he is eventually entering it. And there was a list put out by John Rothstein with like four schools on it. that he's focusing on, right? It was like, BYU, who's been seen as kind of the heavy favorite here. Again, keep in mind, he was like the Utah player of the year. So he's from that area. So BYU, the heavy favorite.

Starting point is 00:20:53 Kentucky was on there, and it sounds like they just did a long Zoom call with him. So, you know, it sounds like they're in the thick of things as well. I can't remember the fourth team. And then Kansas was one of the other ones. But it's interesting because I just don't, especially if BYU and Kentucky are in on it, even though we're past the point of the market being as rampant as it. Like, I would imagine Jackson Kohler,

Starting point is 00:21:13 if he would have been available back in the spring and we knew we'd be eligible, like if Florida Bedonga got five to six million, Kohler probably gets around there, four to five million. I don't know. Now that we're in this more, you know, condensed portion,

Starting point is 00:21:29 does he get two to three million? Like, what's the knock and what he's getting? I don't even know if Kansas will be able to have that. potentially, right? So I don't really, even though they were on the list, I don't know how real it'll happen, but I'd imagine KU's at least keeping tabs just to kind of see what happens there, right? And I will say this, a lot of people were wondering, hey, because BYU is seen as the favorite here, if he ends up going there, what does it mean about KBakata? So if Kaba Kata was the

Starting point is 00:22:00 BYU starting center the last two years. And he's more in the flory line of like undersized who's really good at blocking shots, jumping, throwing down dunks, stuff like that, right? And Kata, it has now come out, is entering the portal himself. So the direct repercussion, and it did mention in the post that he will consider going back to BYU and leave the door open, but theoretically, could the Kohler stuff lead to a repercussion of another good center being out there? would Kansas have interest in Kada-Kaba. So we'll try to do a deep dive on Kada later in the week as well.

Starting point is 00:22:40 And then the last bit of news here, London to Feeney for the KU Women Soccer team was named the Big 12 defensive player of the week. Again, Thursday game at number 19, Ohio State at 4 o'clock central. All right, that'll know for this episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page. We can like and subscribe to the show. See you next time on L.O.J.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - BEST PLAYER?: Kansas Jayhawks' Tyran Stokes Could DOMINATE College Basketball for Bill Self

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