Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Darryn Peterson & Flory Bidunga Lead Kansas Jayhawks | Will Bill Self's Roster Overhaul Work?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Well, it's been a couple un-Kansas-like seasons for the Jayhawks, but Darren Peterson is here to make us forget every bit of that. You are Locked-on College Basketball, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, what's up? Happy Monday. Welcome into the Locked-on College Basketball podcast, the only daily national college hoop show out there.

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Starting point is 00:00:43 As always, you can listen to these episodes ad free on Amazon music as well. Right now, this episode is brought to you by Fandul and new customers can bet just $5. And if that bet wins, you're going to get $300 in bonus bets to use all across the app, download it today. Special shout out to the everydayers who were here with us and all the members of the locked on college basketball discord, man, the conversation the chatter is really picking up in there because we are four weeks out from the start of the regular season. Let's go. Today we are doing our 24th team preview. If you want to see all of those, we've got a playlist. I'll link it up in the corner there on YouTube over Mr. Derek's head for those of you watching on YouTube. Speaking of which, we're talking Kansas Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:01:28 today storylines personnel schedule x factor all of this kind of stuff and more joining me to help do that of course is the great host of locked on jhocks mr derrick johnson dj welcome in brother great to have you oh no great to be here and hey uh for those who are who are part of the fan dual uh you know betting circle you can get darren peterson plus 850 to win the wood an award i don't know in fact we've got a a a phandal read later on i've got some big 12 championship odds lined up for that one. So that'll be fun to look at Jayhawk believers. You're going to get some good odds if you think the Jayhawks could win that thing because some people don't. So quick run through last season, DJ. Jayhawks 21 and 13 overall, 11 and 9 in Big 12 play,

Starting point is 00:02:15 finished sixth in the conference standings lost in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament to Arizona after beating UCF, who by the way, Kansas beaten football on Saturday, oddly enough. seven seed in the NCAA tournament ended up losing to John Calapari and the Hogg 79 to 72 Hunter Dickinson leading rebounder and score average in a double double last year he is out the door along with a whole bunch of other people we'll talk about that DJ here's where we got to start I said it in the cold open that it's been two very un-cansas-like seasons for the Jayhawks and I think it's especially amplified because Kansas had that crazy long stretch of just like owning the Big 12 and nobody else sniffing it.

Starting point is 00:02:58 The story we talked about a lot last year, this is the first time since the 1981, 82, and 82, 83 seasons, finishing outside the top three in the conference standings. Sixth last year and tied for fifth the year before. My question to you, does that get fixed this year? Do the Jayhawks get back into the top three?

Starting point is 00:03:19 Man, that's tough because it's like you have Houston, you have BYU, Arizona, and there's a lot of good schools. that you could realistically finish fourth or fifth in the Big 12 and still get, you know, a two or three seed in the NCAA tournament still have a lot of success. I am going to say they get to that point, though. Now, realistically, it could be like three teams are tied for third or something in the big 12.

Starting point is 00:03:39 So it's like technically you got there. We'll count it. We're counting the team. There's a T we're still counting it. And I get why from a national perspective, people are a bit lower on Kansas because of where it was last season. But I, and really for the last two years when your AP preseason number one, you almost feel like you get spurned.

Starting point is 00:03:55 a little bit when it happens back to back years this is a much different core of players and i would just say look at the bigger picture of what bill self has accomplished until last year every single season he had been a four-seed or better in the NCAA tournament it's just the consistency and now he gets back to things where when you look at when bill self has an all-american lead guard you go back to charon collins in 2010 or 2009 and 2010 excuse me you win the big 12 one year make the sweet 16 the next year you're the number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament. You then fast forward to his next All-American lead guard, Frank Mason. They get a one seed.

Starting point is 00:04:32 They go to the elite eight. Next season, you have Devante Graham, All-American Lead Guard. You get a one seed, you make the final four. And then you go to Devon Dotson in 2020, All-American Lead Guard. They were going to be the number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament. When Bill Self has an All-American lead guard, which I think they're going to have this season. I know Darren Peterson is technically like a shooting guard wing. They're having him handle the ball.

Starting point is 00:04:52 He is playing as the lead guard. for KU. Bill Self tends to do pretty special things. Man, it's going to be so fun to watch that. This is a special young man. The question is just what is the level of special and that's what we're going to find out. Derek, I did some digging on this. You know, I'm a dork and I love stats and research. I started looking at it, you know, Kansas back-to-back years finishing outside the top three. I wanted to know when was the last time that happened three years in a row. So I went back and I did the research. Do you have any idea when the last time the Jayhawks from the outside the top three in constant standing was.

Starting point is 00:05:26 Okay. So it gets interesting too because then you start getting back into like the big eight and then it's like it's harder to do because there's just less teams. I'll say it probably happened in like the mid to late 70s. Well, here's why you're dead wrong, my friend. It's literally never happened in the history of Kansas. Like literally I went all the way back to this guy named James. You've heard of him that started this great game. Never in the history. And history of Kansas Jayhawks basketball? Have they finished outside the top three? I mean, like again, going back to what you said about the longevity and the consistency, it ain't just Bill Self, man. It's this program, one of the preeminent Blue Bloods. And I think you're right. Until we just start to see a complete downturn, Bill Self deserves the benefit of the doubt, right? And I think that's very true. That said, right, we had another health scare for Coach Self this offseason. Derek, are any updates there? Like, is there any sort of

Starting point is 00:06:19 concern about what role his health might play this season um so he seems to think it's not going to and this is kind of a i don't want to say continuation but it seemed to be kind of a similar thing to what kept him out of the NCAA tournament a couple years ago right um but this one he kind of mentioned that like it was just a much easier recovery process like that one wasn't just he missed the NCAA tournament it took him time during the off season to be able to get back and be fully coaching and be you know standing up and running around he was back like running around like running around in practice like a week later with this one this one was much more of a I don't want to say routine like anytime you're dealing with stuff with like the heart that's not routine right

Starting point is 00:06:57 but this one was definitely more of a like I remember he did a press conference like a week after it happened and he was like if we if we had a game today or whatever like I'd be coaching it wouldn't be a big deal um so it obviously gets in the back your mind and the fact that this has now happened again makes you it certainly makes me wonder and we've had a lot of episodes about this like could this be Bill's last year could he have a couple more seasons right Because from a family perspective, you'd imagine, like, he's accomplished so much. And you start to wonder, like, if you're Bill Self's wife, Sydney, do you talk to him about, like, what are we doing here? Let's have one more fun year.

Starting point is 00:07:27 And I don't know if that'll be the case or not. Like, the way they're recruiting right now certainly makes me think he's going to be along for at least a few more years for Kansas. But I think for this specific season, I don't really have any questions right now. We've seen other coaches. You think of Coach K. He had some, like, health stuff and back stuff throughout his time. Duke and he was able to kind of power through it at different times. Maybe you miss a game here, there, whatever, but KU is well equipped, too, with the assistant

Starting point is 00:07:52 coaches, Jock Vaughn coming over, former NBA head coach, former Kansas, you know, All-American Guard. So I'm not really concerned about it right now, but it definitely has to be a kind of constant in the back of your head, like could this be something that pops up in any point in time? Man, and we sure hope not, right? Like just anyone in life, we want them to be healthy, right? But, man, just one of the titans of our game and want him to be able to stick around as long as he wants to do it and you'd hate for his body to tell him, hey, you're done. All right, I can't believe we've gotten multiple minutes into this thing. And we haven't really talked much about

Starting point is 00:08:26 Darren Peterson. I know you did a little bit, but good grief. This student, I know we're going to talk personnel in the next segment, but it would be a crime for us to wait till that point to talk about Darren Peterson and how special is he going to be. Derek, I said it a second ago, and this is what I want to ask you, right? Like, we expect him to be special this year. I think Most people have him, you know, there's kind of this top four core, a freshman along with Cam Boozer at Duke with AJ DeBantz at BYU and Nate Amen at Tennessee, but at 247 at least and maybe other places as well. Darren is number one in this class. In your mind, what is the level of special we're talking about here? I mean, Bill Self has said, and he hasn't just said it once. Like

Starting point is 00:09:07 Bill's self has been known to at times like over exaggerate, especially during offseason talk, but the fact that he's now said it multiple times that this is the best. freshman that he has ever recruited to Kansas you're talking to I mean Andrew Wiggins it was a second team all-American as a freshman put up 17 and 6th Joel Embed was obviously a freak show before he got injured in what he was able to do Josh Jackson is that a neck for what I'm trying to remember now he's at so many injuries now and it can be a correct one together yeah no no but you think about like in all the freshmen and five stars and McDonald's all Americans that he's recruited and he has said that multiple times now

Starting point is 00:09:45 And it feels like this is the most ready-made. Like some of those recruits, like Wiggins, part of the reason he was the number one recruit was about the athleticism and the potential. With Darren Peterson, it's like he's the number one recruit because this is what he is. He prepares unbelievably. He's working after practice every day with Jacques Vaughn. He's getting up shots. He's just a fearless competitor. He just does everything.

Starting point is 00:10:08 Like he rebounds. He passes. He shoots. I dream of a player. And I keep like getting worried that we're getting too high on the hype meter for a player we've never seen a college basketball game. But every story that comes out, it feels like it raises the bar. I mean, there was like a tweet a couple weeks ago from Fran Frasilla, who was at a KU practice. And he's like, yeah, he hit eight threes in a scrimmage.

Starting point is 00:10:30 And it's like, what is this? I don't know. It's getting, I'm getting worried by how high the hype meter is, but I'm fully in on it at the same point in time. Like I said, plus 850 to win the Wooden Award. I have a share of that. Let's just say that on Fandwell. I love that energy, Derek. That's great.

Starting point is 00:10:46 And for every time I've seen, like, that video of him, like, like, setting up shop at, at fog alley, like, right? Like, he was sleeping. It just feels like he's got a good personality, too, right? Like, it's not just about what he does on the court, but it feels like he's enjoying the college life. He's got good energy, a good personality, man. And that's just good for the game of college basketball.

Starting point is 00:11:06 I'm excited to see it. Well, look, DeWan Harris is gone. Hunter Dickinson, gone. K.J. Adams, gone. Everyone knows about Darren Peterson, but he can't carry this load by himself. Who else is going to come around, Darren Peterson, and help get the Jayhawks to where they hopefully want to be back at the top of the Big 12? We'll talk about that in just a second.

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Starting point is 00:12:31 The last main vestige of the 22 national champions, DeWan Harris, is out the door. Hunter Dickinson played more years than we thought in Lawrence, Kansas. And now he is gone. KJ. Adams gone. And it really feels to me like it's kind of a new era now, a reset, right? Darren Peterson is now the face of the franchise, if we can put it in pro terms. In your mind, is that reset a good thing after what we've seen the last two years? I think it is.

Starting point is 00:13:00 Like, I don't know. I feel almost disrespectful saying like addition by subtraction. Yeah. And those guys accomplished so much. And I think all of them had like a lot of good things. And I do think to a certain extent, like all of those guys got put in an unfortunate situation that they were all together. Like, I think DeWan Harris was the starting point guard on a national championship team. They had the right pieces around him to optimize what he was.

Starting point is 00:13:26 With KJ. Adams, he was the starting center on a one seed in the NCAA tournament, right? They had the right pieces around him when you have Jalen Wilson and Kevin McCuller and Grady Dick to make that work. With Hunter Dickinson, like he went to an elite eight. with Michigan as a one seed and they had the right wings and players around him to make it work. It just felt like all three of those guys didn't work together, right? I think any of them could have worked if you built it around them, but it made it difficult when they were together in terms of like, like defensively, there were certain limitations of what you could and couldn't do with Hunter Dickinson.

Starting point is 00:13:59 And then offensively, there were certain limitations of what you could and couldn't do with KJ and DeWan. So it made things difficult, I think on Bill Self. And I think that's the thing this year. like, I have certain questions about, like, okay, what's the shooting going to be like and stuff like that? But I think from a game plan perspective, Bill Self is so good in season at figuring out what is going to be the best defense for his team and how they're going to adjust to ball screens and in the little intricacies of the game. But I think last year, in the last two years, they've been

Starting point is 00:14:27 more limited and how they could do that. And I think this year, it's a much more athletic, much more switchable team that he's going to be able to tinker with it a lot better. And so I just think this team is going to be more of like the dog-like mentality and the athleticism that Bill Self really, really wants. There's not much back in terms of returners, but I think the biggest name everybody's looking forward to just see blossoming this year is Floria Bedunga, who entered the portal this offseason, thankfully decided to stay, love to see that. El Marco Jackson back from injury, obviously didn't get to play last year, and Jamari

Starting point is 00:15:00 McDowell back from a red shirt last year as well, contributed, you played what, like 30-ish games his freshman year and then a couple guys that are more of the walk-on variety but uh really man to me this is about florrie and how can he break out in el marco and what can he do coming back from injury yeah and i was i was looking back at a couple guys that i found interesting in florrie's development you doca as a bouquet who from year one he got hurt in year one and then year two he broke out he was like all big 12 third team player very efficient dunked everything the guy that i've kind of been comparing this to because i think there's some interesting comparisons as a team was Cole Aldridge. So Cole Aldridge goes being like the fifth big man on the national

Starting point is 00:15:38 title team, McDonald's All-American Center, to all the sudden he's the starter the next year with Sharon Collins. I already made the comparison with Darren Peterson to Sharon Collins. And that was kind of your one too. That was your, it was Sharon and Cole, just like it's Peterson and Florida as kind of your two stars. And then he got a bunch of like role players around him. And Cole Aldridge was a really good shot blocker. You know, he wasn't the most diverse game offensively, but like he had enough to score some points and get angles and dunk the ball and stuff, good rebounder. I think there's a lot of interesting pieces there that make it with Flory. The key for me is, you know, can Florey stay out of foul trouble, right? That's always a big

Starting point is 00:16:16 thing with young bigs. But like, there were some moments last year where you could see this dude is like athletically just a freak. And if he could be more consistent and be stronger and do a good job boxing guys out defensively, like the sky's the limit. Flore is a absolute freak. And I'm expecting very big things. I'm expecting, you know, close to double-digit rebounds per game, two, three blocks per game. I think him and Darren Peterson is going to be a really fun duo. Yeah, man, the bookends of the lineup, man, I just am so excited about. And then that means what's two through four look like basically is, I think a lot of the question. In terms of the portal, I think a lot of the frustration of the last two years, Derek, if I read the

Starting point is 00:16:54 tea leaves correctly, is with like, there's been some misses in the portal and evaluation and some things like that. So you look at these guys coming in, Jaden Dawson from Loyola, Trey White from Illinois, Melvin Council Jr. He's a Bonnie. Well, now he's a Jayhawk, but he was a Bonnie. He Nala coming over, played in Canada. This dude is 26 years old, gang. What are we

Starting point is 00:17:14 doing? What do you make of this portal hall? Do you think it can kind of change that narrative we've had the last couple years for the Jayhawks? You definitely wished that there was like one more like big piece as part of it. They were going for like a Darien Williams. Like that would have been the perfect kind of finishing touch

Starting point is 00:17:30 to this right we thought he was like right yeah yeah of course of course um i still think this was a solid porter class right like i i think people are sleeping on a little bit from a standpoint of going back to all the misses they had in the portal they changed their approach this off season they said you know what forget going for the big stars and everything go for the fits go for the role players we have the dynamic player and darren peterson find the guys that will fit around him not too dissimilar from what Duke did with Cooper Flag, though. They also had like a couple other first round picks on their teams. That's a little bit different of a situation. But Jaden Dawson is a good shooter, good defender, right? It fits perfectly if you have somebody dynamically on the

Starting point is 00:18:11 ball. Melvin Counsel is somebody who has been a driving force for this team in terms of his mentality with the practice habits and with working hard, and he's going to be a really good defender. I forgot to answer about Marco Jackson. You asked that question earlier. He's somebody who can be a really good defensive player on the outside. And the hope is that as the offensive game comes around a little bit more this year. All these players fit in as role players. Trey White is another one of those is Illinois, kind of a jack of all trades that you can play as the four, that the idea is going to be, you just have a nice kind of mix of role players that you don't need them to be star players. You have that with Darren Peterson. And that you have enough there. And then you look at

Starting point is 00:18:53 the other theme of, like, athleticism. That was another thing Kansas went out and got in the portal. You think about with Trey White, they're going to be playing him at the four. Like, he's pretty athletic for a four. Melvin Council, very athletic fast guard. Like the guy that he kept getting compared to from KU perspective was Tyshawn Taylor. Marco Jackson, obviously, not out of the portal, but he's like a very athletic guard as well. Jayden Dawson's got everybody seen that one, you know, Kansas fan has seen that one big donkey out of little of Chicago.

Starting point is 00:19:22 like he's got a good bit of ups and athleticism to him as well. You bring in some freshmen who are really good athletes with Cole Rosario. So has character. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, Paul Ambia is a center you brought on from overseas. He's got like seven foot nine wingspan. It's unbelievable.

Starting point is 00:19:37 So when you look at length, when you look at athleticism, like this team has that now. And yes, even though I do have some questions again about the shooting and who's going to be your other like dynamic scores, it's just going to be much more of a bill self team where guys fit into their roles and have that a little bit better than trying to be like hey j store we know you've done this in the past can you do this for us here or rylan griffin we want you to do this and it just never really works yeah and and i'm with you i think that's my biggest question too is where where's the sharpshooting coming from but we'll see how it all works together yeah it's funny enough we talked about daryon williams who winds up going to nc state paul and bia who you just mentioned initially

Starting point is 00:20:16 committed to NC State, rescinds on that, and then comes over to the Jayhawks. Kind of cool because he and Florey are both Congolese. And so hopefully that's been helpful for both of those guys. Mentioned Darren Peterson, Cole Rosario, another, he reclassed, committed over the summer. Calderon coming over from OTE, a big small Ford, Corvin Allen, initially committed to San Diego, ultimately decides to come to Kansas, which I think is so cool because he's a KC. kid he played for sure speaking of sure on calendar right is that right in high school yes yes they want a state championship nearby he's somebody who could be kind of a long term developmental

Starting point is 00:20:51 guy but they've had some success with those guys so man so you look at all this and and obviously derrick again we think about all the guys that are out because it wasn't just the the duon and and the kj and the hunter there was a j store and diggy coy and zeke and riley and zack clement to kill more's i mean it it feels like half the last year's team either went to texas a and m or Maryland. Speaking of which, man, poor Rakees Passmore, popped his Achilles, um, thoughts to him as he recovers from that. So Derek, all of that said, all of these guys, as you look at it, who is your starting five right now? And I know it's like, you know, that's the, the cliche thing, because it's all about who finishes games and who gets starters

Starting point is 00:21:31 minutes, but everybody wants to know who's my first five. So as it stands right now here at the beginning of October, who's your starting five? Yes. I mean, the locks are Peterson at the one, uh, which I think defensively Peterson will basically be a three, but offensively he'll be the one. Flory at the five, I think Trey White's a lock at the four. You don't really have a lot of other like wing true fours on the roster. That is something where if like you play a matchup with a team who has a couple good wings, I don't know how Kansas will match up there. And then the real competition is at kind of the two, three spots.

Starting point is 00:22:02 Kansas might play three point cards at once. They could go basically Peterson, El Marco, and Melvin Council. Jaden Dawson could be that guy. And the guy that's been kind of picking up that steam is Cole Rosario. Going back to the shooting thing, Rosario is kind of a streaky shooter. And when he is on, he is really on. But he's a good hustler. He's a very good athlete.

Starting point is 00:22:22 There have been some, they're different players. Christian was a bigger player. Cole is a little bit different in what he does. But there's some similarities between Cole Rosario and Christian Brown. And Christian Brown came in as a freshman. He was, I don't even remember if he was like, inside the top 100. He was right around it in his recruiting ranking.

Starting point is 00:22:42 He played like 18 minutes per game on the team that was the number one overall seed as a true freshman. I just to be fun with this, like I think there is a very good chance that it ends up being like counsel and then, you know, El Marco as your other options. But I think from the shooting perspective,

Starting point is 00:23:00 I'll go with that. I'll go Peterson at the one, Melvin Council at the two, Cole Rosario at the three. And then El Marco Jackson is your first player off the bench with him be as your first big off the bench. Man, that's so, and I'm glad I'm kind of seeing things the same as you. I was like, I feel like one four and five are locked in. And I've been wrestling with El Marco, Melvin Council, Jaden Dawson. I hadn't put Col Rosario in the mix for starting at two, three.

Starting point is 00:23:25 So I'm so glad to hear you say that. So it really feels like maybe it's two of those four, but then you've got a solid core behind them coming off the bench. Plus, as you said, Paul and Bia. And there's eight and that's what you need in college basketball, right? And so, Derek, I feel great about that. Give me just one dude to look at is like, this is going to be the breakout like that is like, you, we kind of seen it coming, but this is the year, man,

Starting point is 00:23:47 this dude's going to be a star. Who is that in your head? Yeah, I think it is a little bit on Marco Jackson. I know I just picked him not to be in the starting lineup there. I do think there's a good chance he gets starts throughout the season. But even if he's the sixth man, like he's still probably playing 20, 22, 25 minutes per game. What I think it's going to be with El Marco is I think you're going to see some really good throughout the season where I don't know like he was a really good defender as a freshman but the

Starting point is 00:24:13 game was too fast for him offensively really good athlete the shot wasn't quite there right if he gets to being like a low 30 percent three point shooter this year and the game does slow down we know the defense can be there we know the athleticism can be there I think you're going to see enough from a Marco where it feels like a lot of good teams have that like good bench player who can come in and maybe it's not every game but like they can swing a game or two to their way and then we go into the following season where, you know, the player in front of them graduates or goes pro. In this case, Darren Peterson goes pro.

Starting point is 00:24:46 Melvin Council graduates, and we go into the following year, so the 2026, the 27 year going, well, El Marco's projected to be a starter, but based on some of the flashes he showed, I think he could be one of those players who breaks out to being a star this year. That's the level I think we're going to get to with O'Marco, where it's like you see some of those moments off the bench, where it's an improvement from his first. year that he played and makes you think that he could be that next stud bill self-guard the

Starting point is 00:25:12 following season man i sure hope so because man could have used el marco in each of the last two years in a in a big way obviously that he was there the freshman year but really blossoming at in a way that you're talking about and so if he can take that step for me the guy i'm really looking to break out in a big way as flory like i just yeah that's the obvious one i know i'm like i'm like yeah and so but it's like if either or both of those guys can do it man i i think it really the Jayhawks into a different stratosphere than they otherwise would be. Well, all of these personnel are going to come together to play a bunch of basketball games this season. There are so many fun non-con games that Kansas has on the schedule, but for me, Derek,

Starting point is 00:25:50 it's an early February Big 12 slate that's going to be an absolute gauntlet. How's that all going to play out for the Jayhawks? We'll look at it in just a second. Right after I tell you about square, you got to know that your favorite neighborhood spots run on square. There's just certain businesses that really make the neighborhood feel like home. Whether that's a local sports bar that's packed on game days, maybe it's that coffee shop you go in and they know your name and your order the second he step in the door, or maybe it's that corner deli that's been faithfully serving your neighborhood for decades. These are the places that bring people together. And when neighborhood businesses thrive,

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Starting point is 00:27:27 So whether you're a casual fan or you love diving into the stats, Fandle makes the game day experience so much better. How about some Big 12 regular season championship odds? No surprise. Houston is favored at plus 160, then BYU plus 400, Texas Tech plus 490, then Kansas at plus 750, followed by Iowa State at plus 900, and Arizona at plus 956 teams with all odds better than plus 1,000. That is crazy and tells you how good the Big 12 is going to be again. What are you waiting for? Visit fandal.com to download the app today and get started. All right, Derek, let's take some time now to look at the schedule and then make some projections for how this season will play out for the Jayhawks. Big 12 is 18 conference games.

Starting point is 00:28:11 That means we get 13 non-con games. And so we start, though, with there's a super fun exhibition at Louisville on Friday, October 24th. Y'all, that weekend is loaded with great exhibition games. Buckle up. It is what, two weekends away, three weekends away? I don't know, but it's going to be insane. Let me just point out the other high major. games on the schedule with all due respect to Green Bay and A&M Corpus and all them.

Starting point is 00:28:36 Friday, November 7th, that's the first Friday of the season, the return game to Chapel Hill to play at Carolina, man, getting these two Blue Bloods playing home and home for the first time ever is crazy cool, an exciting game last year that came right down to it. A furious comeback for Carolina, fell short, Kansas wins. Then we fast forward ahead to Tuesday, November 18th. That's this year's Champions Classic, and we will have two of the highest rated freshman in the country squaring off in, obviously, Darren Peterson and Cam Boozer, because Duke and Kansas, that means we'll get Kentucky, Michigan State in the other game. I guess we'll have two of the top

Starting point is 00:29:11 freshman squaring off in the Kansas Carolina game as well with Caleb Wilson for the Tar Heels. Then the next week, we get the Players' Era Festival on the front end of Thanksgiving, Monday the 24th against Notre Dame, Tuesday the 25th against Syracuse and a TBD game for game three, either on Wednesday or on actual Thanksgiving Day. And then Tuesday, December 2nd against Yukon, looking forward to that one. And then the next Sunday, we got the border war on December 7th at T-Mobile in Kansas City. And then a return game to NC State on Saturday, December 13th. Really probably could have scheduled that better where it's like,

Starting point is 00:29:48 let's just make one trip to Carolina to play the Tar Heels and the Wolfpack. But, you know, there we go. That's a fun game, obviously, because of Daryon Williams going to NC State instead of Kansas and Paula and Bea pulling out of NC State. and coming to Kansas. Derek, man, this is a fun non-con. What do you make of it? It's very tough. It's very tough. And especially for a Kansas team with a lot of new players and counting on, you know, a freshman Darren Peterson. I don't know. What would you think would be like if I told you right now with what 13 games, if I told you Kansas went 10 and 3 in the non-con,

Starting point is 00:30:19 would you say that would be like a respectable huge success. Obviously it depends on who those losses are two. But let's say you lose in Chapel Hill and you lose the Yukon. and then maybe whoever the third game of players era festival is or to Duke right in champions classic if it's those three games that's all very respectable right um you want to win the by games i know everybody slips up sometimes but i would take 10 and three going into big 12 play and be like all thumbs up because i feel like those first two players era games are very winnable nc state's going to be good that's going to be a tough road game in raleigh but i feel like if you can pick off a couple of those like blue blood high major type games finished 10 and three absolutely i would take

Starting point is 00:31:02 that yeah i think if you can if you can find a way to split at north carolina and duke um if you find a way to i guess between connecticut missouri nc state can you go two and one there yeah and then maybe you can get out of it with two losses but yeah i think three would be would be totally fine if that were the case looking ahead then to the big 12 play which is always crazy derrick it's this stretch at the end of January to Valentine's Day that's wild to me hosting BYU on January 31st at Texas Tech on February 2nd Utah sandwiched in the middle thank you for that breather at home then Arizona comes to town on February 9th all due respect to Utah and Coach Jensen and then they got Kansas last year so that's right that's right payback is coming and then on Valentine's Day at Iowa State dude that is a

Starting point is 00:31:50 crazy tough stretch Derek how are they going to navigate well first of all I don't know why we're only getting the BYU game once. That is a huge mistake by the Big 12. I mean, that's such a good, like a TV rating boost to have AJ DeBonson. When they played in high school, you had a game where one of them put up like 61 and the other put up like 50 something. So like, why would you not want that twice? I don't know. Anyway, um, yeah, I mean, obviously the, the sanctity of Allen Fieldhouse should hopefully help you there. You would think with the, uh, getting at least a couple of those at home. Obviously, like you said, the Utah game is one that that's one you need to take care of there. If you can win those two home games, BYU, Air,

Starting point is 00:32:26 Arizona in addition to the home game yet to Utah. At the very least, walking out of that three and two isn't the worst thing in the world. And then again, if you even win one of those two on the road, Texas Tech or Iowa State, you're going to be sitting pretty. Dude, yes. Absolutely. I mean, again, one of the nice things is that in this day and age where we're not just looking at records, but really the selection committee taking into account who you played, I think is such a big deal. And it's wild as we lay this out to realize how many of the other elite five-star freshmen uh, Darren Peterson's going to be going up against Caleb Wilson, AJ DeBancet, Cam Boozer. This is so much fun. And, and I love it. And that's what we're always looking for.

Starting point is 00:33:05 Uh, somehow we got to figure out how to get the Jayhawks in Tennessee to place. We get some Nate Amen. Uh, and then we, Mikhail Brown with Louisville in the exhibition. That's a great, dude. He's such a good guard. I'm very, they should, man, I wonder if they'll guard each other. That's going to be fun. I cannot wait. So Derek, all that said, we look at that. where do you project Kansas to finish in Big 12 play? I know we kind of said like 10 and 3 would be a nice non-con. So what do you think about for a Big 12 record and finish? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:33:35 So I mean, Houston is just such like a barrier in the Big 12 right now. I'm trying to think what, you know, finish the Big 12 like third. I will going back to, you know, making that prediction like will Kansas finish in the top three again this year? Like I'll say that they're at least able to get in there. Again, it could be a tie. So last year at Houston at first, 19 and 1, tech at second. 15 and 5, and then two teams tied for third at 14 and 6. I'll say Kansas gets to around that mark.

Starting point is 00:33:58 You know, 14 and 6, 13 and 7, 15 and 5, somewhere in that range that gets them tied third, or even in the top two, possibly. Maybe it's tied second or something like that. And I think if you do that in the Big 12 with as difficult as the noncon is, as long as yeah, you do go 10 and 3 or something in the noncon, that might get you a two or three seed in the NCAA tournament. And I think that would be a very respectable season for KU. I mean, hey, I think a lot of places in the preseason rankings have them closer to, I don't know, the 15 to 25 range.

Starting point is 00:34:27 I've even seen some that don't even have them ranked or have them in the 30s, which I think that's a little crazy. Yeah, but it's at least out there. And so, you know, if you're saying, hey, your preseason number 18, that projects you to be in a four or five seat, right? So I think that would be a very good season for KU, and I think that's definitely doable for them to accomplish. Derek, let me give you what I see is kind of a floor and ceiling for Kansas and you push back. on it. For the floor, it's like Flory can't take the next step forward. Darren is really

Starting point is 00:34:58 good, but not like world-changingly special. The portal guys aren't great. The shooting's missing. Wind up finishing like fifth or sixth in the big 12, seven or eight season, losing the first round. On the other side, the ceiling, Darren Peterson is all-world and then some wins that wooden award you've been

Starting point is 00:35:14 talking about. Flory. Is that next great Kansas big, as you said earlier? Everything's clicking. Kansas is Kansas again. Finish maybe second in the big 12 get that two or three seed and make it to the elite eight or you know who knows when you get in the tournament right but i think that's like a reasonable expectation floor ceiling push back on it yeah so um i i do think with with florrie one of the big things that he's going to bring is offensive rebounding i think that's the case with paul m bia as well and with hunter

Starting point is 00:35:42 dickinson elite elite elite defensive rebounder he wasn't necessarily i i wouldn't view him as being like as elite of an offensive rebounder per se. In fact, he was 205th in the country an offensive rebound rate, but top 35 in the country a defensive rebound rate. Florey brings more offensive rebounding. And I think they're going to be a better offensive rebounding team. And when you give Bill self extra possessions, he takes advantage. The last time you can go back to Kansas being a top 50 offensive rebound rate team of the country was 22. They won the national championship. Before that would be 2020. They were going to be the number one overall seat in the NCAA tournament before that 2017 again one seed they made it to the elite eight before that you go back to

Starting point is 00:36:22 2015 they got a two seed that year 2014 they got a two seed that year um let's see 2011 they were a one seed that year and ended up making the elite eight 2010 they were 22 that year they got the number one overall seat so like on and on point being when you give bills up extra possessions and their good offensive rebounding they tend to figure it out offensively um then i go back to the idea of having that all american guard like darren peterson i i think that on its own is going to, and just, like, I think this is going to be one of the five best defenses in the country. The wingspan of this team is incredible. Flory Budunga, 7-2 wingspan, Bryson Tiller, 7-2 wingspan, Paul Mbia, a 7-9 wingspan, Darren Peterson, 6-10 wingspan,

Starting point is 00:37:03 El Marco Jackson has a plus wingspan, Melvin Council with a plus wingspan. Cole Rosario is a good athlete and good wingspan. I think just the athleticism, the length of this team and the versatility that they're going to allow Bill Self to coach the way he wants to coach, even if the shooting's not there, they weren't a great shooting team in 2020. I think that could certainly hurt them this season, but I looked to a team like Michigan State last year, who surprised a lot of people, you know, a very highly prestigious program. They weren't being really ranked by many people or ranked very highly. They end up getting a two seed and having a fantastic season.

Starting point is 00:37:36 I think this team will be better shooting than that Michigan State team was. But that's kind of where you're looking at it too, right? They had a young freshman who was kind of leading the way for them too. That's kind of where I look at this. Now, there is that world where, yeah, I mean, if the shooting is really bad and Florey doesn't take the next step, maybe they are closer to that four or five seed. But I definitely think the floor is still higher than what ended up being the case last season. That's a great way to put it. Man, that's, it's great and so true about the offensive rebounding, Derek.

Starting point is 00:38:01 I'm glad you brought all those numbers and that's really helpful to understand. Yeah, I think at the end of the day, this team is probably being slept on pretty severely because it's just like, I think with the length, the capability, just the talent level, less. defensive liability from your starting five, right? Like, it's just the, I love that you said, I think the floor is higher this year than it was last year. And I think that's a good point. But we've always got to look at that sliding scale of the floor in the ceiling. Sorry, I'm just knocking my microphone out of the way.

Starting point is 00:38:30 And, man, it's going to be really interesting to see we'll learn a lot against Louisville. And then at that return game at North Carolina, another team that isn't getting the benefit of it. It's interesting to see how those two teams kind of parallel themselves because of what's happened in recent years. and understandably so, right? Like, they probably don't deserve the benefit of the doubt either of them right now. So that'll be a lot of fun. Derek Johnson, my man, you are the absolute best. Folks, make sure you check them out on Locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:38:56 Great stuff. Again, we are four weeks to the day from the start of the season on Monday, November 3rd. It's going to be electric. Absolutely cannot wait. Give Lockdown Jayhawks a follow. If you haven't followed us on Locked on College basketball, make sure to do that. If you haven't dived into the Lockdown College Basketball Discord, we'd love to see you there as well. That link is in the show notes, absolutely free to join.

Starting point is 00:39:15 You guys, as always, I want to say apologies to the lawyer family. Let's go Wild Pope shouts to the McBruins. And until tomorrow, peace.

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