Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - BREAKING: 5-Star PG Taylen Kinney CHOOSES Kansas | Is Bill Self's Class of 2026 Going to be SPECIAL?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Kansas has their first commit in the class of 2026. It's a five-star, the number one point card in the class. Taylin Kinney, come on down. 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? Thanks for joining us on Locked-on Jayhawks. Derek Johnson here.

Starting point is 00:00:29 and this is LOJ. Thanks for making it your first or second listen every day. Bonus episode here is Talon Kinney, a five-star point guard has committed to the University of Kansas and Bill Self, and he becomes first commit in the class of 2026. We're going to break it down what the recruitment means. More to come in the class of 2026. It certainly seems that KU could be building something special.

Starting point is 00:00:50 We'll get to Kinney's scouting report and what the possible next year's roster could look like for KU on this bonus episode of LOJ. but Bill Self is now off and running and, you know, I don't say this lightly. There have been some unbelievable classes that Bill Self has brought in, but there's a real chance that this is the beginning of one of the top three to five classes that Bill Self has ever brought in on paper. I know that sounds crazy. Again, you think of the class of 2013. You think about some of the classes that built the 08 title team that you could kind of point to, though those were more staggered by having, you know, multiple classes that kind of put some of that stuff together. You think about some of the classes he put together in maybe the late 2010s that led to a national title in 2022, for instance.

Starting point is 00:01:35 But on paper, it seems like they're running for a lot of good players. And Talyn Kinney is a five-star recruit. He's now in tow, class of 2026. He's the number one point card on 24-7 sports, ends up picking Kansas over Arkansas, Indiana, Louisville, Oregon, Kentucky, and more in the end. He's out of overtime elite, and it kind of continues a seemingly pipeline for KU. They already have three players on their roster for this year from overtime elite. And now you add Kinney to the fold to kind of add to that. Who knows?

Starting point is 00:02:04 Maybe there will be another player from overtime elite that they add in the class of 2026. But, you know, this kid who had a lot of interests, a lot of visits. And for KU, they have a lot more visits and interest from players that this could only be the beginning, but this is an unbelievable beginning whenever you get the number one player at his position in a class. he's a six-foot-one, 185-pound point-guard, strong playmaking ability, really good scoring guard ability, which I think he's going to fit in perfectly when you look at,

Starting point is 00:02:35 hey, what if a lot of the really good Bill Self point cards done? They have the ability to get a bucket and score. He can hit pull-ups at a strong rate. And, you know, again, Bill Self just has so much success with those players. And even with freshmen, right? Maybe it's not, you would say, okay, sophomore year Devon Dotson was better than freshman here, Devon Dotson, right? If you go back and look at the stats, like, duh.

Starting point is 00:02:54 But freshman year Devon Dotson is still a pretty good player for KU. You know, Mario Chalmers, probably better as a junior than he was as a freshman. He was still pretty good players of freshman. Bill Self has had a lot of really good point cards come in, whether it's been program development guys, whether it's been five-star recruits, and he's had success with all of them. And I think Kenny fits perfectly in that regard as a potential one and done for KU. But kind of my big takeaway year is like, again, Bill Self has had some incredible classes so far. again, I think 2013 is the one that I kind of think of the most when I'm thinking of the best

Starting point is 00:03:28 classes. Again, there's other ones you can point to. But that one, you ended up with two NBA All-Stars and an NBA MVP. You ended up with the best player for program success ended up being a national player of the year who wasn't that guy in Frank Mason. And then you brought in other guys who, you know, had success with you in different guards like Wayne Seldon. That was an unbelievable class that KU brought in, both in terms of the end result.

Starting point is 00:03:51 And in terms of if you're just looking at it on paper, when they landed the recruits. And again, there's other years you could point to. I mean, heck, maybe we'll even be pointing to last year's recruiting class just because Darren Peterson ends up being that good alone that it gets them in the running for last year, in addition to some of the other guys they got. But this 26 class, and it is interesting because I don't think the 2026 recruiting class is seen nearly as strong as, say, the 2025 class as an overall.

Starting point is 00:04:16 But the overall depth that Bill Self might be able to accomplish here could be pretty impressive. Like literally this weekend, they had Ethan. Taylor and Davy on Adkins visit. They were supposed to have Taja Reza, but that got canceled. But Taylor and Adkins, that's maybe KU's top center targets. They're both top 35 overall players. Seems like KU would be in a position that at least land one of the two.

Starting point is 00:04:35 Okay, so if you're able to bring on, you know, a top ranked center, like top 35 player in the class, and you have the top ranked point guard here. They've also got a visit coming from Akenna Alosier. He's a top 50 recruit in October. Earlier this month, you had a four-star wing visit in Trent Perry. Josh Irving visited. He's like a top 70 player in the class. Maybe he's a backup plan to Taylor Atkins.

Starting point is 00:04:58 They had a visit from Alex Costanza. He's a top 25 recruit in the class. There's also kind of a bucket of players who like who you've had a visit that it seems like you're on the outside looking in, but maybe you can close strong in the race with the added boost of like, I don't know, the offer that you're giving him or something. You think of Tyron Stokes. You think of Maximo Adams or something. There's also a group of players that haven't visited yet, I guess at least,

Starting point is 00:05:22 yet who it seems like KU is still in the thick of things with, right? You think of like a five-star shooting guard and Caleb Holt or a five-star small forward, Anthony Thompson and Baba Ola Duton, I don't know, and you think of five-star power forward and top 10 overall recruit, Christian Collins or Arafandiani, who's a top 30 recruit, cut his list down to 12 with KU and it back. Like, there's just a lot of names out there that KU seems to be floating with, the KU seems to have either visits with or interest with in a real way. And so I'm not saying it's going to be the class of 2013 when you have the number one recruit.

Starting point is 00:05:57 You had three in the top 15, four in the top 30, five in the top 50, but could you wind up with two players in the top 10 or 15? Could you wind up with three or four players in the top 35 of this class? I don't think that's that crazy. And it had to start somewhere and it started in a really good spot. So let's break down more on Taylorin Kinney's game and what exactly he brings to the table for KU come the following season. Today's episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by Mazda. This episode is moving the game forward just like Mazda. For those who believe it's not just about playing the game, it's about redefining it.

Starting point is 00:06:35 There's moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, move culture, and keep moving the game forward. This week's moment that move the game forward, you know, we could talk in different football moments. I want to talk about this. It's tail and Kenny committed in Kansas. That is literally moving the game forward because, when you fast forward another year for Kansas, it's like, okay, Darren Peterson could be great this year, but he's probably going to be a one and done. So who's going to be taken over

Starting point is 00:07:01 the following year? This moves it forward, Taylin Kinney. And when you follow and moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there's more to every highlight, there's more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda move and be moved. Today's episode is also brought to you by DoorDash. It is the weekend. Time to look back and crown this week's MVP on Who Delivered, powered by DoorDash, just like you can win every Saturday with DoorDash Streaks, saving more every time you order these players delivered when it mattered most. Let's break it down. I think for Kansas so far this season, I do think that, I don't know, I think Leashon Williams

Starting point is 00:07:40 deserves a lot of credit and has delivered in a big way for KU this year, just in terms of like the overall season and you're looking at, you know, you don't know what his role was going to be coming in with Daniel Hyshaun, everything. and has the big game against West Virginia, and I don't know, like it, it just feels like he has been a very important player for KU back there. And just like Lishon Williams has been delivering for Kansas, Doordash delivers your Saturday. So Doordash streaks, you save every Saturday, you order, stack it up all season. You can save up to $250, including $100 in Doordash credits.

Starting point is 00:08:11 Order this Saturday, keep the streak alive, fuel your game day only with DoorDash. Terms apply, promo period, through November 18th. Thanks to John us on this bonus episode. Taylor Kinney, a five-star commit, has picked the Kansas Jayhawks. Let's get into a scouting port. So he's six-foot-one, depending where you look, either six-foot-six or six-foot-seven wingspan. Either way, that's a really good wingspan for a dude six-one and for your point card.

Starting point is 00:08:35 Now, there was like some sort of combine event. I don't know if he did this when, because I guess now he's essentially the age of like a senior in high school. So I don't know if this would have been when he was like the age of a sophomore or junior in high school. We only had a 27-inch vertical. I am wondering though if that's a standing vertical as opposed to a max vertical because then the max vertical is going to be in like at least the lower 30s at that point

Starting point is 00:08:57 which is a little better also though the lane agility 12.74 that actually would have been last if you compare it to like NBA Combine performers the 3.3 second three quarter court that he added the combine that puts him in line with like Cooper Flagg but that's a four man Kobe Brea Yeager Demen who's like a very big guard so you'd be wanting a little bit more from some of those athletic testing numbers. But so I guess if you do want to look at those and say, okay, he's not a freak athlete, like he's not somebody who, you know,

Starting point is 00:09:23 is going to come in and be Derek Rose or John Wall like speeding by people. But I still think he's a good athlete. And it's important to remember people get better and more athletic from their sophomore to junior to senior years of high school, which is basically the age he's going through. And with a year in the weight and conditioning program at Kansas, you know, at least in the offseason, it'll get a little better. So I should say I was even.

Starting point is 00:09:45 hesitant to even bring up some of those numbers because they're probably not accurate of what he will be by the time he gets to KU because he's going to grow, he's going to get faster, he's going to get stronger. And I think what it's all said and done by the time he's at KU, he'll probably be a good athlete. Will he be again? Will he be a freak athlete? Will he be a Thompson twin? Will he be a LeBron James level, you know, the top percentile athlete in basketball?

Starting point is 00:10:07 No, I don't think so. But I still think of the end of day, he'll be just fine there. I think the most important part here is he's just a very good basketball. football player. I mean, that's why he's ranked the number one point card in the country. You're looking at somebody who, again, with overtime elite, they play a bunch of different settings. They have the season, they have the playoffs, the preseason, yada, yada, yada. If we just look at the 2024 to 2025 regular season to get our biggest sample size possible, like 30 minutes per game for his squad, he averaged 20.1 points per game, five assists

Starting point is 00:10:41 per game. So those are already like really good numbers for what he's putting up. He also was good rebounder, which Bill Self loves when his guards can add to the rebounding category, four rebounds per game for him. Really good steal numbers, which makes sense when you think about having long arms, being able to poke balls away, 2.3 steals per game for him. So that's solid. This number, again, would show you that maybe that vertical isn't totally indicative of where it is because you average 0.9 dunks per game.

Starting point is 00:11:08 You don't as a 6'1 guard get a dunk per game if you're not jumping high and don't have long arms. So that's kind of the case there. And this is really impressive, 65% on two point shots. So if you are a 6-1 guard, that's going to be one of the questions is, can you finish inside? He did at a very high level for OTE last year. Then you look at the three-point shooting 33.3%. I mean, again, considering he basically was a junior in high school, you project shooting gets better year to year.

Starting point is 00:11:37 And especially some of the shots that he is taking, where they are higher degree of difficulty as like pull-ups or, you know, something for the offense. I think he's going to be a good shooter for KU there, too. And then the free throw shooting is 73.7%, but overall, 55.6% from the field. So very efficient score already, and you can see that in kind of some of the stuff that that his game brings to the table. I should also mention 1.9 turnovers per game. So five assists to about two turnovers per game. Like that's a fine number to be at there if you are tail and Kenny.

Starting point is 00:12:08 So that's the biggest sample size among some of the numbers. Now, if you go watch some of the highlights, like some of the things that stood out to me, really good in transition, which I would. will say like there are some gimmicky things about the overtime elite league like there's there's the like power blaze and stuff they have i will say the one thing that it by by having some of those things is that it does train is it's probably going to lead to players being better in transition because they do get out there so often in a league like this so he's a good transition player like i said earlier not afraid to take a pull up at all he's not afraid to let it fly he's got

Starting point is 00:12:38 a pretty quick release um i i think just overall like i feel good that k you should have a player coming in who should be a tough shot maker and taker for this team, someone who can get them a bucket, you always need multiple of those guys. And when you look at what KU could have back next year, we'll get to that more in the next segment. But there's not a ton of obvious answers for that. Kenny is an obvious answer for doing those things for you. It seems to have a good change of pace and an idea of changing speeds. He has active quick hands. You see those over two steals per game, active playmaker defensively. I think he attacks spotups well, too, where you saw a lot of highlights of him being off ball, catching it and attacking the spot up well.

Starting point is 00:13:18 And that's really important because we know Bill Self loves to play two ball handling guards at once. And sure, there's one guy who handles it just a little bit more maybe than the other guy or maybe a lot more than the other guy. But he loves playing both of those guys. And that's really important because it feels like Kenny can do that. It feels like Kenny can be the guy at point guard or he can be slightly the guy at point guard, but play with another point guard next to him. And I think that will benefit him too because I do think he's a fine passer again. five assists per game. I don't think that's like, you know, some gigantic strength necessarily. I think he's fine at it. But if you get like, for instance, you know, let's just get to

Starting point is 00:13:54 looking at the roster next year because I think that would be a really fun pairing potentially with a fourth year junior, I'm Marco Jackson next to a freshman Taylin Kinney. We'll get to that next. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by five-hour energy. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. Five-hour energy shots deliver tasty caffeine in 17. bold flavors. Each two-ounce shot packs the caffeine of a premium 12-ounce cup of coffee plus B vitamins and nutrients with zero sugar and zero crashes. They're super portable, big taste, tiny shot. You can take it everywhere and get that boost when you need it. Whether it's, you know, you're going to a sporting game. Let's say you've been all day tailgating. Let's say you

Starting point is 00:14:33 had to get up early. You go to the football game or I don't know, you're just getting up early for work or for a baby or something like that. And then you hit that lag later on in the day. You need that little bit of boost. That's where five-hour energy can come in, save your day for better, or lack of a better term. Enough with boring, flavorless caffeine. It's time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with five-hour energy shots. Get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in store or online at www.5hourenergy.com. That's five-hour energy.com or on Amazon today. Thanks for joining us on this bonus episode of Locked on Jayhawks Again, five-star point guard, Taylin Kinney commits to Kansas.

Starting point is 00:15:14 So I already love the idea of the possible back court pairing. So you think of Melvin Council senior this year, Darren Peterson, the expectation is going to be, he's going to be a top three pick in the draft. You're not going to have those guys on next year's roster. So you look at next year's team. And I look at Taylin Kinney as being the most obvious answer for being like a bucket getter for you. And then I also love the idea of being able to play Kenny next to El Marco Jackson.

Starting point is 00:15:36 You have Kenny, who is this really good opportunistic, can get a lot of steals for you in a really good way. El Marco is a very solid defender. So you kind of have that, you know, with Mario Chalmers, like he was really good at getting steals. And then you had Russell Robinson, who was just really solid on the defense, defensive end of the court. You have two, you know, Marco is your like, ideally with his athleticism, he should be good

Starting point is 00:15:59 at driving the basketball. With Kinney, you have this guy who can pull up and hit mid-range and hit from three. And obviously, both guys can ideally do both things, but you have different strengths you can play off of in a lot of ways. have two guys who, yeah, okay, maybe they're not your Magic Johnson level passer, but they're both good enough passers that when you combine them together, you have that kind of double lead guard in a very real way. I would love that potential back court in 2026 to 2027. And then, you know, beyond that, you're looking at a Kansas team that he becomes the first commit in the class.

Starting point is 00:16:32 And as we brought up earlier, like it feels like it just feels like you're about to land like kind have a lot more. This kind of gets the ball rolling, so to speak. But it is going to be important to have a super important off, or super big off season with all the seniors you're going to lose off this year's roster. I mean, you could potentially be, I mean, it's not just the Trey White's and the Jaden Dawson's and the Melvin Councils of the world. Probably the Darren Peterson's. You could be losing Florida Budunga, right, if he has a big enough season. So you're going to have to have a big off season. And the beauty of getting a high level high school commit right now is that old saying, one in the hand is worth two in the bush. Might be wondering, what is that phrase

Starting point is 00:17:10 actually ever mean it's it's linked to medieval falconry where trained falcon was more valuable than potential prey birds that could escape but anyway point being it's one less roster spot you have to fill in the off season and not just roster spot but key player spot like this isn't just hey you're adding your 12th man you're adding somebody who is expected to start and be one of your best players next season and you don't have to fill that now in the off season anymore you don't have to contend with five other schools who are down to one option and are all bidding you know obviously the bidding probably get pretty high for a five-star recruit, but like, it's just different doing it right now. And I also do wonder, like, are we getting to a point, I have no idea on this.

Starting point is 00:17:48 It might not be the case. Are we getting to a point, though, where the efficiency is actually more with freshmen than it is with transfers? Like, our transfer is getting so much money now that you're actually better off paying, you know, say, $3 million gets you an X player in the transfer portal. Does $3 million get you a top 10 player in the class in a way that, yeah, there's, there's less guaranteed, but there's a higher ceiling of what that could mean. Or maybe it gets, I don't know.

Starting point is 00:18:16 I don't know what the congruency is there, but I'd be curious to know. But regardless, this is a huge first pickup for KU. And when you look at next year's roster, possibly having a lot of players you're going to be losing, you want some known commodity. I guess it's still not a known commodity because it'll be a freshman coming in, but you want some things that you can feel like, okay, I feel like we can count on that coming in next year. And I feel like you can count on tail and Kenny, because I think this dude is going to be really, really good in a KU uniform and be that kind of good scoring point card that we've seen

Starting point is 00:18:42 have so much success seemingly each and every year under Bill Self. All right, that'll do it for this episode of Locked on 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. See you next time with LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - BREAKING: 5-Star PG Taylen Kinney CHOOSES Kansas | Is Bill Self's Class of 2026 Going to be SPECIAL?

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