Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - BIDUNGA IS BACK?!? Kansas Pays for What Could be a BIG-TIME Sophomore Season at Center for Flory

Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm about as shocked as anyone. Flory Badunga is officially back with Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks for what could be an explosive sophomore's ethos. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What is going on? Derek Johnson here. Thanks for joining us on Locked On Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day and thank you for every day. You're catching all our shows whether it's on our YouTube page where you can like

Starting point is 00:00:36 and subscribe or anywhere that you get your podcast we are free and available. And on today's edition of Locked On Jayhawks, Flora Padunga is officially back for Kansas basketball. So we're gonna talk about that. And what could be a great second year for Flory flourishing in the Bill self system, as well as what it means for the rest of the roster his fit on the team with some of the transfers they have being brought in how it affects the rest of their moves in the offseason in the

Starting point is 00:01:02 transfer portal for Bill self. First, though, today's episode of the show is brought to you by TurboTax. And with taxes, I mean, it's getting close to tax day if you're ready for stress free taxes and most money back guaranteed head over to TurboTax.com today and get matched with your expert at TurboTax. Our support bedunga is officially back to Kansas. It was reported by Pete Thamel earlier on Sunday, he said coveted big man Florida bedunga, one of the top transfers in the portal has

Starting point is 00:01:32 agreed to a deal to stay at Kansas, he told the SPM move keeps bedunga in Lawrence and represents huge victory for Bill self as he rebuilds the Kansas roster. And certainly it does, right? You're talking about somebody in Badoonga who, you know, I've been on high as anybody of, I think I said at one point in the season, I thought he was the best player on Kansas. Now that dissipated a bit,

Starting point is 00:01:53 fell off a little bit at the back end of the season. Part of that was because he wasn't asked to do as much, but also the play wasn't as close to where it was in some of those games like the UCF game and the Houston game and stuff. But he showed so many great flashes, then you saw the making of like, he it feels like one of those classic guys that we've been so used to in previous iterations of college

Starting point is 00:02:12 basketball when it wasn't this NIL transfer portal stuff, when it was, hey, you saw flashes from a young player, and then you almost expected them their next year to break out and be like all big 12 or all American level player, right. And if you want to go back in time and talk about like Cole Aldridge, right? That type of progression for former McDonald's All-American in what he did then in year two and year three after that for Kansas. Certain things that remind me of that with Flory, obviously, you know, not completely congruent games, but also two guys who were centers who didn't have the most complete offensive games, really good

Starting point is 00:02:45 shot blockers, right? Cole a little bit bigger, but with Flory maybe more of a spring athlete. And you could see the makings of a player who was going to have an unbelievable season for kids. Plus, I've always loved the idea of having this, this like switchable hyper athletic center that allows you to do a lot of fun things on the defensive end of the floor. And so getting Florida is absolutely huge. Then you add to the, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:11 we know that Bill Self does better when players stick around in the program and have extra years. That is also huge. When you're talking about that standpoint, and then you look at the amount of new players that are coming into the program for Kansas, good to have a little bit of familiarity,

Starting point is 00:03:24 good to have a little bit back. And obviously, Flory was a fan favorite this year, right? With the fans chanting for Flory at one of the games. And I don't know, does this how this whole thing, this circus, this whirlwind, how this went about, does that make it to that, you know, fans still like him? And obviously, if you're winning games and producing, nobody's going to really care how it went about.

Starting point is 00:03:45 But does it lessen that that fan love to at any point? I have no idea on the answer that I've kind of said all the way along, as much as this was a whirlwind. And even when Flory was in the portal and even when I thought he was a goner, for sure, I never really blamed Flory. And I always liked Flory the kid still that like I was rooting for him, whatever his next stop was going to be. My issue all the way along was always with the the guardian,

Starting point is 00:04:12 the handler, whatever you want to call it. And so I think at the end of the day, here's what you're looking at here. I think that the guardian, the handler, whatever again, you want to call them. There were a lot of lies being thrown out there, whether it was things that were taken back, whether it was things that were contradicted in the public or in the private, there was contact with other schools dating back to as much as January,

Starting point is 00:04:35 that this stuff was very real to almost happening. I do think there was a certain element of it where they probably didn't want to have to enter the transfer portal. They wanted to do this all behind closed doors. They wanted to do this all behind closed doors. They wanted to do this behind back channeling, and coming back to Bill Self saying, hey, if you don't pony up this, this is the offer we have,

Starting point is 00:04:53 then we're going to enter the portal. And I think it hit a point where they had to kind of just make it public. And I guess in the end, they get what they want. How real were they about ever actually leaving versus were they real versus what did Kansas offer back? I'm sure money talks in a lot of this. And like I said, I have no problem with Flory, getting what he's worth and going out there and getting his stuff.

Starting point is 00:05:15 My issue more so is under the guise of, hey, you've got this kid whose parents are in Africa and you've got this guardian or handler who, it seems like by certain accounts, Flory wants to say at Kansas and you have this guy who was basically kind of a leech in this situation, who is going to get, I'd imagine a cut of the paycheck in this situation for just kind of being along for the ride and being a chaos maker here. So I don't have respect

Starting point is 00:05:41 for that. But I have all the respect in the world for Flory as an individual player, I guess, if that makes sense. So yes, I am respect for that. But I have all the respect in the world for Flory as an individual player, I guess, if that makes sense. So yes, I am completely shocked that this happening. I thought there was no way it was happening. And I thought that part of the reason why there was no way of it happening was the precedent that it would set, so to speak, right by bringing Flory back with this whole whirlwind and getting his number whatever it ends up going up to increase that imagine pretty substantially in the end here for

Starting point is 00:06:11 him to come back to Kansas, what precedent does that send to like every other player just to do the same thing? Now I guess you could say well, not all players are going to be as valuable to Kansas as Bill. So like, if you're, you know, one of these other players who's a role player and you try it, like Bill Self's just gonna be like, okay, fine. We'll replace you with somebody else, leave, right? But what stops your top players

Starting point is 00:06:33 from doing this exact thing? I don't know. That'll be interesting to see if that starts a precedent or have we already gotten to that point in college basketball where everybody's doing that anyway? So the precedent has already been established. I don't really have the answer to that. I can also only assume that there were certain centers

Starting point is 00:06:50 that KU was linked to in the portal, post-Florie entering the portal, whether it was like Feral Pain who entered from A&M, whether it was the kid from Florida State who entered into the portal. There were some centers, the kid who just committed to Indiana from Davidson, some centers that there was like public reported,

Starting point is 00:07:08 whether it was interest or I don't know, to what level from KU. And you see some of those guys go off the board, you see them pick other schools, you start looking at the available centers on the transfer portal rankings. And it's not really like, you look at the guards, even with guys going off the board,

Starting point is 00:07:24 it's like, oh, there's still this good guard and this good guard and that good guard and same with wings. That wasn't as much the case with centers. And so there is a part of me too that wonders if because I think about this too, like, there probably is a little bit of a shattering of trust with with Bill self and the at least family for Flory is there going to be a shattering of trust at all that they have to repair between just Flory and Bill? I don't know. I don't have that answer. But, you know, you get to a certain point where you see some of these other names going off the board and you go, man, we tried to bring in that guy, but he got even more than we offered him. And maybe you start to think back, hey, maybe we should be offering him, you know, more money to come back to Kansas, maybe that offer goes up. I

Starting point is 00:08:02 don't know if that's what actually happened. But I do find it interesting that you saw a lot of those targets go off the board before this kind of happened. So I do wonder if that was part of it that you kind of get to a point of desperation of like, what other options are you going to kind of come in here, sir? So to this point, so you look at Flory, and this kid who is a potential future NBA first round draft pick, and I guess in the end, even though it's a very messy and complicated way of doing it, and even though I don't like the kind of shady nature of the business end that kind of went on here, I guess in the end, everybody's happy. Flora Badunga gets paid more.

Starting point is 00:08:38 The Guardian probably gets a bigger paycheck. Bill Self gets Flora Badunga back. Like, I guess Darren Peterson's happy too. That's the guy he said he wanted to play with. So like, I guess Darren Peterson's happy to that's the guy he said he wanted to play with. So like, I guess in the end, all's well that ends well, right. And so you have this kid who I think is going to break out in year two, he just put up a season in which he averaged 5.9 points, five and a half

Starting point is 00:08:57 rebounds 1.6 blocks per game in just 16 minutes per game. He did it 70% from the field. When he had to come in there with KJ being injured. He showed some really good performances. Obviously, the Houston one was the biggest one that kind of stands out here. Interestingly enough, the on off numbers ended up being he was the team was five points worse on offense when he was on the floor this year and two points worse on defense when he was on the

Starting point is 00:09:18 floor. I think a part of that was, I do think you hit a little bit of a freshman wall. And maybe part of that freshman wall was you get your confidence up and then you lose it by going to the bench. But, you know, overall, I still think it was a solid first freshman year for Flory Badunga, especially knowing you were going to come in. And that was the idea. You were going to develop that first year behind Hunter and KJ Adams.

Starting point is 00:09:42 And he ended up 97th percentile, an effective field goal percentage, 90th percentile and effective field goal percentage 90th percentile in offensive rebound rate 91st percentile and paint points per 40 minutes. He was 98th percentile and Hakim rate would because he was 98th percentile and block rate and 74th percentile and steel rate. He also ended up being 93rd percentile and defensive rebound rate. Now I do think that one's a little misleading because I do think there were some times where he was pushed around by bigger guys. And, you know, even if he got a good amount

Starting point is 00:10:08 of defensive rebounds, he would give up some offensive rebounds at the other end. But that's just something he's gonna, I think, work on this off season, get stronger, even more impactful. But like, I think this kid has the, all the makings in the world to be a legit all big 12, possible all American player as soon as this year as a sophomore Kansas.

Starting point is 00:10:26 How does this affect the rest of the roster? What are those expectations for Flory in year two? And how does he fit in with now what is a new look Kansas roster with a couple transfers being brought in? Today's episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by TurboTax. Taxes is waiting and wondering and worrying if you were ever going to get any money back, and then waiting, wondering and worrying some more. Now, taxes is matching with a TurboTax expert who can do your taxes as soon as today. An expert who gives your taxes their undivided attention as you work on your return while you get real-time updates on their progress so you can focus on your day an expert who will find every deduction possible and and file every form every investment every

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Starting point is 00:11:43 Okay, so what does the roster look like now? At this point in time for for KU with Florida Dunga officially back. And right now you still got a good amount of scholarships to work with. Five scholarships available for KU. Darren Peterson, incoming freshmen, Samice Calderon, and Bryson Tiller, as your other freshmen. Tiller obviously read true to this year. Elmarco Jackson, Jamari McDowell returning, No Shelby returning, earning scholarship after a walk on year because no more walk ons. And then you bring in the two transfers with Jayden Dawson, Trey White, and bring back Florid Badunga. So if I'm projecting the starting five right now, which again, they have five scholarships left. So like this is probably going to change. I

Starting point is 00:12:27 would probably have Darren Peterson, Marco Jackson as your two guards, I would have Jaden Dawson on the wing at the three Trey White playing the four and then Flory is the five. Tiller would probably be your first big off the bench McDowell would be your first guard off the bench and Shelby would be kind of your three point specialist role off the bench the JCL diggy court role, I think at this point in time, but again, that's nine players on the roster, they have five available scholarships, they're going to get more

Starting point is 00:12:52 players, right. And we'll discuss the portal strategy here in a second. But Flory, if you're just talking about pure talent, this now gives you, you know, even more NBA talent on your roster, obviously, which isn't everything, but it is worth something, as it shows the kind of potential that you can reach if you're on your A game, right? And so you look at Darren Peterson, possible number one pick in the draft in a year. If Flory has a good enough year,

Starting point is 00:13:21 he could possibly be a first round draft pick. And I do think there is a little bit of, you know, you could say, Oh, well, maybe Flory is a first round draft pick in two more years. Based on how this off season went, I don't know how confident you should be that like, this is, you're going to get more than one more year out of Flory. Maybe it ends up happening. Again, I didn't think he'd be coming back at all. So who knows? But you do wonder with that lack of trust, is this just going to kind of be the make or break of year? Like it's either he goes off to the NBA, goes to another school if it doesn't work out or whatever.

Starting point is 00:13:51 Well, like at the same point in time, if this ends up being his last year kids, cause he goes off to the NBA cause he played so well, like that is a great thing for all parties involved. So I don't know what will end up happening there, but it does give you another player in Flory who could be a future, you know, first round draft pick. And that's nice to have kind of two of

Starting point is 00:14:05 those guys on the roster at the very least. And obviously, if somebody else has a big enough season, maybe they work themselves into being in the draftable range as well. But it also provides a real skill for a real help, I guess, for the other players, right? There's nothing better than having a good rim protector, a good shot blocker behind you on the defensive end of the floor. Now all of a sudden you can try to jump passing lanes more.

Starting point is 00:14:27 Now you can be a little bit more risky and trying to get steals because you know that you have that guy back there who can help cover things up. And if you get that big steal, a lot of times it leads to a highlight play, a momentum play, an easy bucket at the other end. And that can be so crucial in winning these games in March, but really over the course of a season. So he helps everybody else around him. I also think Flory gives you the opportunity because we saw a little bit of it.

Starting point is 00:14:51 There were certain times where maybe he got lost a little off the ball, which happens to freshmen, right? But you also saw the potential of him defensively that he could be a center that was switchable, that he could be a center that was able to get out on the perimeter and guard guys who were dribbling on him. That gives you an opportunity to play with a two big lineup at certain times, where you can be flexible at the types of lineups you have. It also gives you the opportunity to have kind of a five switch

Starting point is 00:15:15 type of defense, which would be pretty crazy. If you could pull that off for certain stretches of time. And so he also gives you a lob threat for Darren Peterson, it gives you someone running hard to the rim that is going to be able to take advantage of that zone. And as much as we talk about spacing with the three point line, having a hard rim runner that can make defenses think and constantly have to worry about the threat of an alley-oop or he's going to throw it out a big dunk, it's going to open up spacing for the three point shooters at certain times because they have to cheat inside to prevent that from happening.

Starting point is 00:15:45 So, you know, I think that's going to be a great fit with those guys. And there is a little bit of it's very different in terms of the type of player like Flory and Yudoka are very different in terms of Yudoka was like strength and Flory is just like athletic pop, so to speak. But they're similar in the way of like, oh, very efficient in terms of a lot of their baskets or dunks. They get blocks.

Starting point is 00:16:10 They impact the game defensively and on the glass and stuff like that. And then you look at, you know, the twenty nineteen twenty team with Doke and having a dynamic point guard in Devon Dotson. Darren Peterson, very different from Dotson, right? In terms of Peterson maybe being a more three level score and obviously just a more complete player. Like he's supposed to go number one in the draft. But if you're just talking about Devon Dotson

Starting point is 00:16:33 was a second team all-American point guard, like the expectations are that Peterson's gonna be an all-American point guard for KU too. And then you look at, oh, they had an Isaiah Moss on the wing, kind of a three-point shooter who could at least, you know, hold his own on the defensive end. Okay, that's kind of the idea with Jade and Dawson coming in in a specific role.

Starting point is 00:16:51 And then you had a bunch of wings that you were able to play between Marcus Garrett, Oh, Chad Bashi, Christian route. Well, you've you've gotten one of those with Trey white, can you find more in the portal at this point in time? So I do think there is some similarities between that roster, even though there's a lot of differences between the individual players, I guess, as a whole. But yeah, this return just makes everybody's lives

Starting point is 00:17:11 a lot easier. So I think in terms of Flory specifically, like what are his expectations? How many points is he gonna score is probably an irrelevant conversation because he could average eight, nine, 10 points per game next season and still be one of the best players in the conference. He's going to get some points.

Starting point is 00:17:28 I do think that, yes, like there will be probably more to his offensive game. He tries to add and they'll be looking to add to him. I don't think he gets enough credit for like. There were certain times where he was putting up hook shots or he was doing like an up and under move or something in the post. It didn't happen a ton because the majority of the post touches were going to 100 against and are going to somebody else. Right. And the best part of his offensive game is dunking the basketball. That's a very high efficient shot. Right.

Starting point is 00:17:52 But I do think there's a little bit more than you might think, especially for a guy who hasn't played basketball ton that makes you think he can add even more to his game. Then it wouldn't shock me if he averages 12, 14 points per game. But I think realistically, when you look at having, you know, the perimeter options, the key you was going to have, he might averages 12, 14 points per game. But I think realistically, when you look at having, you know, the perimeter options that KU is going to have, he might very well average 10 points per game, but his biggest impact is going to come from, yeah, he could get nine, 10 rebounds per game. He could be one of the best offensive rebounders

Starting point is 00:18:14 in the conference and the country. He could be one of the best shot blockers in the conference in the country. He could be one of the best defensive players in the conference and in the country, and one of the best just lob threats and pick and roll role men in the country in those specific roles. And so I think the specific stats, like maybe it's a little bit harder to think about, but like

Starting point is 00:18:35 the biggest thing for Floria, I think this season is just going to be, can you find a way to play a big role without getting in foul trouble? A lot of times that can be difficulties for big men. And I think that'll be the difference between, you know, does Florian end up playing 22, 24, 25 minutes per game or can he give you a 30, right? I think the foul trouble is gonna be a big thing with that. And that is one thing that you look at, you know, with Big Dave, he was having to battle like that,

Starting point is 00:18:59 that foot injury over the course of his career. With Doak, he was having to battle, he was just so huge that you weren't really able to play him 32 minutes per night, right? With Flory being a little bit more spry of an athlete, and being more of a springy guy who is a little bit thinner. Yeah, okay, you're gonna want to add some weight to work on, you know, not being back down in the post and defensive rebounding, boxing

Starting point is 00:19:24 out and stuff like that. But like, that does give him the opportunity that he should be able to play in longer stretches at the same point in time too, which is a nice thing to have to so how does this affect KU's rest of their offseason with the transfer portal? I think that's interesting too. This episode of Lockdown Jayhawks is brought to you by Monarch Money.

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Starting point is 00:20:49 And like I said, all is well that ends well. And I do really like Flory. And I do think he's in for a very big season playing next. Darren Peterson and should be a lot of fun. He certainly was, I think the most fun player for me to watch on this past year's KU basketball team and excited to see him in another year. Okay. How does this affect the rest of the portal build for KU? I think from a trait perspective,

Starting point is 00:21:09 it means you need more shooting, right? I mean, we just talked about Trey White, great fit in terms of being a dog, being a Bill Self type basketball player, but also not like a huge three point shooter, right? And so I think if you play Trey White at the four and Flory at the five, first of all, I absolutely love the defensive side of the ball and the switch ability you could have. Yes. If you're playing a team that has bigger bigs and you want to play a bigger lineup, of course, in that specific game, you can play Trey White at the three, you know, play somebody at the four that will probably be a named TBD or maybe a tiller or Calderon or whatever, and then play Flory at the five or Flory at the four and that guy at the five, right?

Starting point is 00:21:43 You can do that in those specific games. That's that's all good and well. But yeah, you do need more shooting in those situations, right? Because if you're talking Peterson, as much as I think you'll have a great season for KU, sometimes it's harder for freshman shooting ball. Like what if Peterson comes in and shoots 34 percent from three, which would be solid? Like that would be fine, right? But it's not going to be knocked down necessarily. And then you look

Starting point is 00:22:06 at Omarco, and it's like, okay, well, how what are you gonna get there? Like you get 31% from three from Omarco that not really been known as the strength of his game necessarily, it's his athleticism, his driving ability, his defense, those sorts of things. So what happens if that's the case, right? What happens is Trey White shoots a good percentage, but it's only two, two and a half per game, similar to what you were getting from like, Dewan Harris some seasons at Kansas, you start to run into a point where it's like, okay, you need another shooter. So

Starting point is 00:22:32 if you can get another wing, whether it's three or four, it can be interchangeable with Trey white at that point, you want them to be somebody who's good at shooting three. So if you get a guard, right, if you get another guard to play next, Darren Peterson, whether it's point guard, shooting guard, combo guard, whatever, you want them to be able to shoot three. So that is one thing that I'm kind of looking at here. But also it does mean you need a backup center. Now it's much easier now that Kansas doesn't need to get starting center and backup center out of the portal. You get your starting center back with Flora Badunga. Can you find your backup center out of the portal now and find somebody who is content in a specific role and find the best player to

Starting point is 00:23:06 do so right? Does it end up being a player that is willing to take on that smaller role? And does it end up being a player who is somebody who can play the four and the five to where you can pitch them on not only are you going to get the backup five minutes, but you're going to play a little bit next to floor to increase those minutes or is it somebody like the Parker Brown role where it's like, you know what you're being brought in to do you're going to play a little bit next to Flory to increase those minutes. Or is it somebody like the Parker Brown role where it's like, you know what you're being brought in to do, you're going to play eight to 10 to 12

Starting point is 00:23:29 minutes on a given night, and just try to keep things moving forward and not be a disaster out there. Like, is that the specific specific role, excuse me. So that'll be where you go to but with five scholarships still available, I think you're looking at adding another guard, right? Adding another wing, adding a backup big man. From there, the final two roster spots you're looking for, that's kind of just dealer's choice.

Starting point is 00:23:53 I think maybe it would make sense to add another wing, because even though you do have Trey White, and even if you added a second wing, it doesn't hurt to have a bunch of wings, because those are the ones that can play kind of the most positions, right? And so from there, that's kind of where you're looking at. But those are the big ones at this point.

Starting point is 00:24:06 Backup big man, another guard, whether it's somebody who can, you'll come off the bench and be a sixth man or be a starter next to Darren Peterson. And then another wing, kind of the same thing, whether it's somebody who can come off the bench or if it's somebody good enough to start. And where you go, like maybe between the guard and the wing,

Starting point is 00:24:21 you want one starter and one to come off the bench, or maybe you even have Jayden Dawson move to a bench roll. And then you bring in a starting guard and a starting level wing and then a backup big as well. And then like I said, the last two spots kind of filler, maybe use it on a high school player, maybe use it on the international group, maybe use it on a long-term thing. But it's those three ones that are kind of the big ones at this point in time for KU. But if you do go for, you know, that backup center, who you want to play a little bit of next to Flory, whether it's Flory goes to four and he's at the five or he's at the four and Flory's at the five,

Starting point is 00:24:51 and then he gets the backup center minutes. If you want somebody like that, you gotta make sure that they can shoot it at least a little bit to where you have that ability to kind of high, low it on the offensive end of the floor. All right, that'll do it for this episode locked on Jay hawks for bedunga officially back to K you'll have more deep dives more transfer portal content plenty coming at you in this

Starting point is 00:25:11 wild and wacky transfer portal era with Kansas Jay hawks basketball here on LLJ

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - BIDUNGA IS BACK?!? Kansas Pays for What Could be a BIG-TIME Sophomore Season at Center for Flory

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