Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - BILL SELF SHARES RECRUITING INSIGHTS: From Best Shooter Since Gradey Dick to Potential Two-Big Ball

Episode Date: November 14, 2025

Kansas Jayhawks secure a top-tier basketball recruiting class for 2026, with Bill Self calling Luke Barnett the best shooter since Gradey Dick. Will Taylen Kinney seamlessly lead KU’s offense next season? High praise surrounds five-star point guard Kinney, dynamic forward Davion Adkins, sharpshooter Barnett, and versatile defender Trent Perry—each poised to make an instant or long-term impact in Allen Fieldhouse.Derek Johnson explores how the addition of Adkins and the potential return of Bryson Tiller and Flory Bidunga could signal a shift back to two-big lineups for Kansas. The recruiting update highlights Perry’s K.J. Adams-like versatility and discusses KU women’s basketball’s hot start, including standout freshmen S'mya Nichols and Jaliyah Davis. Can Kansas continue stacking elite talent with Brooklyn Renn, Molly Ernstes, and local five-star Addison Bjorn? The future looks bright for Jayhawks hoops—don’t miss this insider breakdown.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DoorDashWith DoorDash Streaks, you save every Saturday you order — stack it up all season and you could save up to $250. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your gameday — only with DoorDash. Terms apply. Promo period through 11/18.SupplyHouseJoin the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHCOLLEGE5 for 5% off your first order. GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

KU basketball officially inked their four-man recruiting class for 2026, and Bill Self had some high praise, including calling one of them the best shooter they've recruited since Grady Dick. 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 going on? in here. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. And thank you the everydayers catching each and every episode of the show. Thank you for making Locked on the number one sports podcast network. And on this bonus episode of the show, KU Basketball officially inked all four of their committed players in the class of 2026 for the basketball class and Bill Self, because of that, now he can actually talk about the players that they've signed

and gave some really fun comments about all four of the commits, Taylan Kinney, Davion, Adkins, Luke Barnett, and Trent Perry. We're going to break all those down. Then we'll get into a little bit of an update on where things are out with the KU women's basketball season. Lower leg injuries are, I guess leg injuries in general are going around KU star freshman, which is not fun. Okay, so let's start right away with Talen Kinney. Talen Kinney is the highest rated recruit right now in the class of 2026 for KU. I say KU because who knows, maybe they can make something happen with, you know, Tyron Stokes or something.

But Tailen Kinney, number one point card in the class, five-star recruit. you figured Bill Self would have something, you know, nice to say about Taylin Kinney coming into the fold. And here is the full quote of what he said on Talon Kinney. He said, Taylin is, and these are all through KU Athletics, Taylorin is one of the best point cards in the country. He's a scoring point. He can shoot. He's got great vision. He can create for himself and create for others. Taylor's transition to college ball should be seamless. He's prepared to run a college basketball team. And that right there certainly speaks very highly of what Taylor and Kenny brings to the table, but kind of tells you everything you need to

know. Like, I don't know if this is a surprise. We were figuring, okay, he's going to come in and be the starting point guard. Darren Peterson's gone. But everything in that quote kind of further details that idea, that he's going to come in. And I guess the part of prepared to run a college basketball team kind of tells you that he's going to be coming in, expected to be the leader on the team, be one of the best players on the team.

So certainly very high praise, but I think based on his game, what he brings to the table. and I think you go back to the part of the quote about he's a scoring point. He can shoot. He's got great vision. Like that is one thing that I think is going to be super helpful that Taylor and Kenny brings to the table is that he is a really good shooter. As we kind of detail and like the question with this year's team, do they have enough shooting? The question with the last year's team, do they have enough shooting? The question with the year before team, did they have enough shooting?

You sense the common theme. Well, getting to start with your leader being a good shooter with Taylor and Kenny, I guess similar to Darren Peterson this year, that certainly is a nice thing. for KU. Now, the next highest rated recruit in the class is Davion Adkins. Adkins is somebody who I think is being seen as more of a center prospect for KU in the vein of, you know, the Florida Budunga, like, okay, maybe he's closer to six foot eight, but he's got a really long wingspan. He's bouncy. He'll be able to play the center position. This quote from Bill's self, I thought, was actually pretty interesting on Davion Adkins. He said, Davion is a prototypical power forward that can also be big enough to play the pivot.

We're excited about him because he's versatile. He's an athlete. He can play above the rim and has shown great improvement over the last year. We feel Davion's ceiling is very high. And certainly the ceiling thing being very high, like, I mean, you kind of expect that in turn. But, you know, to say that, like, they have high hopes for him. But I think what's interesting here is him talking about his versatility and somebody who's a prototypical power forward that can also be big enough to play the pivot.

And what that almost tells me is I would almost be surprised if we don't see, I don't know if primary is the right word, because is it going to be enough minutes? I don't know. I guess if you're saying, are you going to play more too big basketball than you don't play too big basketball, I kind of think they're going to play more too big than they don't play next year. So I guess that would be the primary because when you look at it, if he's saying Davy on Adkins is a power forwarder who can play the pivot, that means he can.

can play the four or five. I guess who knows? The way Bryson Diller's playing right now, maybe he becomes a starter in December, January, and then he continues to kill it and he's off to the NBA. But let's say Bryson Tiller's back for another year. Let's say Florida Bedunga's back for another year. I know all offseason, it was like, okay, well, the idea for him is to go pro after the year. I don't know if that opportunity is going to be there, right? So what if Flory's back? And then what if Paul M. Bia is back, right? Now the chances are, like, if Florey's back and Bryson Tiller's back and you're adding Adkins, does Mbia look to transfer? That would be entirely possible. But let's say everybody's back. At that point, are you looking at, and who

knows, maybe you even had a transfer from there too, right? Are you looking at playing more too big basketball than not? Because you would be saying at that point, like, Tiller, if he comes back for another year, same with Florey, they'd both be expected to be starters. And then you have Adkins off the bench to fill in for either one if he can play the four or five. And you'd have and Bia too. So I think the likelihood that we see more too big basketball out of next year's Kansas team is actually kind of high at this point in time. Now that said, if you're going to have two bigs, I think these are ideal fits. Tiller's obviously somebody who plays like a wing in certain instances with his ability to shoot and dribble a little bit. You look at Adkins being kind of

versatile. He can shoot it at least a little bit there. Flore is at least mobile enough to do it. I think this would be the right way of approaching the kind of twin towers look for Bill's self. So I do find that kind of interesting with the roster construction for KU. All right, let's continue on with the other two commits. Luke Barnett and Trent Perry. We'll also get into some KU Women's Basketball. This is Lock on Jayhawks. Thanks for joining us on this bonus episode of the show

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So head over to fanduel.com, sign up and play your game with Fandle, the official sports betting partner of the NBA and the Lockdown Podcast Network. Thanks again for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks and making Locked on the number one sports podcast network. And thanks for tuning in and being an everydayer here on Locked on Jayhawks. All right. So KU has two other commits, Luke Barnett and Trent Perry, who are both guys who, you know, maybe if you're looking at Kenny as being a one and done, you're looking at Atkins,

maybe more of a two and done or three and done. I think these are the guys that you would look at and say they're maybe more program players, long-term guys for KU. certainly the quote about Luke Barnett is probably the I don't know it's my favorite quote that we heard from Bill Self or saw from Bill Self as these were released over the written word it says here's the full quote Luke's the best shooter we've recruited since Grady he has great range he's got good size and is a powerful tough tough athlete Luke's an outstanding shooter much like Grady was when we brought him in and here's the thing with that like Grady Dick Impact

the game in other ways, too. He did get a good amount of steals. He wasn't the best on-ball defender yet as a freshman, but he did at least playmate with steals, and he was a really good rebounder. And those things with the shooting kept him on the floor. The question will be for Luke Barnett early on. Is he going to have the other stuff? You know, Grady Dick had more height, obviously, too, to keep him on the floor for the shooting. But at the very least, if he is the best shooter they've recruited since Grady Dick, that at least, you know, can get you on the floor for five, ten minutes a game as a freshman and I buy into it, right? I mean, when he committed and you can go back and watch that bonus episode from that one here on Locked on Jayhawks,

like we were really excited. The shot release is real. It's high, it's quick. Very, very excited for Luke Barnett could be for KU. And then kind of the opposite end of the spectrum. You have a guy who's a really good shooter, but, you know, is he going to, you know, be a good enough rebounder to be a starter? Is he going to be, or good enough defender to be a starter? Or is he to be somebody who just comes off the bench and is a sniper for 15 minutes game. The other guy is the opposite with Trent Perry. Trent Perry is somebody who, you know, is he going to be a good enough shooter to stay on the floor to keep him out there for the defense and the rebounding?

Because he's got a seven foot one wingspan as like a six, five guard. So you can play the three, you can play the four. But this was the full quote from Bill Self from KU. It says, Trent is a winner. He does a little bit of everything. He's athletic. He's got size. He's a guy that can play multiple positions on the floor.

I feel like when Trent is on your team, your team, your team is automatically better. Now, this is going to be one of those guys that Bill Self loves. Trent Perry is going to play the KJ. Adams role, like view it that way. That maybe he, you know, Bill Self's going to play him a lot. We'll just leave it at that. But he could have a role right away as a freshman too, is just coming in. Maybe it's not every game, but as a defensive stop or late in games or in certain situations,

making winning plays. If you surround him with the right pieces like that, that's why I really like the Barnett edition. with Perry, if Perry's on the floor, like in the future, right, let's say when Perry is a sophomore junior and he's getting more run, can Barnett get more run and then the two of them can kind of equal each other out a little bit more in terms of the spacing? And can you develop at least a little bit more on the perimeter game and the shooting with Perry than what you ended up getting with KJ Adams? But, you know, the balance between the two could turn out to be like a really good

balance or pairing for KU. And a lot of times when you get these big recruiting classes, which we've seeing KU get, it's these guys who end up having the bigger long-term program because they're, they're at the program longer, they develop longer, they're older, and they have the big winning impact. So don't be surprised if one of those two guys ends up, you know, being that game changer, future all big 12 player for KU down the road. All right, let's finish up here with a little KU woman's basketball because their star freshman is going off this year, but she's also her like Darren Peterson. Next, you're joining us on this bonus episode, Locked on Jayhawks, again, find us anywhere

podcasts, including on our YouTube page. So KU. Women's basketball off to a 3-0 start. They beat Kansas City, 74, Northwestern State, 75 to 60, and Lamar, 65 to 54. None of those are necessarily, like, huge blowout wins, but I think you would want to see, given the competition. Now, I do think that, you know, obviously not having Jaliyah Davis in the last game where you win by 11 that obviously, you know, played into a little bit because you probably win by more. Jaliyah Davis is off to a great start. And so Smya Nichols is off to a great start for KU as well.

But the combination of those two players is going to be pretty lethal for KU. And it might be even more lethal next year. Right now on Bart Torvik, which they have a woman's rank. I think that came about last year. Kansas is 3-0, the ranked 50th on Bart Torvick. They have the number 45 offense, number 57 defense. Looks like UMKC was ranked 234th, Northwestern State, 232nd, and Lamar 179th. So this will be the big one Saturday.

It's the border war. They're taking on Missouri. Which side note, I feel like that'd be a cool idea to do those back-to-back. I don't know if this, I think it's at the, yeah, it's at the spring center, or T-Mobile Center, whatever it is now. this year, the KU, Missouri men's basketball games at the T-Mobile Center this year, too. Wouldn't that be cool to do it back-to-back, like in the same way that, like, if you go on one ticket to the Big 12 semifinals or the big 12 quarterfinals, you get two games for the price of one,

I feel like that'd be cool to be able to do them back-to-back, go see the woman's game first and then the men's game after? I don't know. I feel like that would be a cool idea based on the fact that I'm both being at the T-Mobile center. But anyway, Missouri's ranked 60 seconds. So this will be a good test to be like, okay, we are a top 50 team in the country if we can beat the 60-second best team on a neutral site.

And we'll see if Julia Davis is back because it was announced in the post-game presser, Brent Schneider, she had like a leg injury. So just something going around the program with the star freshman for KU. But they need her back for that one. And then after that, they've got Minnesota. So that'll be kind of a good test against them, Oral Roberts, after that, Georgia and Dayton, Northwestern. So some Power 5 teams certainly coming up for the KU Women's Basketball program.

They also signed two, by the way, as we've been talking recruiting today, it's another good recruiting class, Brooklyn Ren and Molly Ernst, Molly Ernst, I don't know the pronunciation, but good shooter, Brooklyn Ren, kind of a small ball four ability to be kind of a matchup nightmare. And then they just had Addison Bjorn, who's a local recruit, five-star recruit, top 15 in the country who just visited like a week ago. And that would be huge. I mean, if you're stacking these recruiting classes over and over again with what they did with Samaya Nichols and now this recruiting class with Jaliyah Davis and already what they have for next year and potentially add in Bjorn, who can pick like any school in the country she wants to go to, Brandon Schneider

might be cooking with some gas over in Allen Fieldhouse as well. All right, that'll be it for this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. We'll have a KU Princeton preview coming out tomorrow. See you then.