Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - GAME-CHANGING Options Available for Bill Self if Given Another Year - Will He Strike for Kansas?

Starting point is 00:00:00 We continue to inch closer to the season. KU basketball still has two spots open on their roster. There's some more players that are suing the NCAA trying to get another year. Do any of them make sense? Could they take KU to that next level? You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Derek Johnson here and on today's episode of the show,

Starting point is 00:00:31 getting to some of the latest news, the TBTJ Hawks team advancing on. We'll get to a latest KU baseball edition that is a big time get and where the roster sits right now. And we'll start right here, more portal options emerging potentially for KU basketball.

Starting point is 00:00:46 Now, at this point in time, two open spots for Bill Self and KU Hoops. And it feels like between Javon Bardwell with the chance of will he reclassify, will he not, between Mahalo Musich, the big man from Serbia, who has committed to KU,

Starting point is 00:01:01 but will he get eligible? And then between, you know, can they get another year for Melvin Council? It's, you know, that's three players where it's like, what are the odds that all three of them are eligible? I don't know, probably not great. But what are the odds that at least one of the three can make it work for next season for Kansas?

Starting point is 00:01:20 Probably pretty good, right? If not two of three. So there's a real chance that, you know, the final two spots go to two of those three players, or at the very least, one of those three players. But even if it was just, one of three or if it ends up that none of them work, you could potentially still have some openings to try to bring in another player. And, you know, could it even be a situation

Starting point is 00:01:40 where, like, are you able to recruit over somebody is like, I don't know, do you basically say like, hey, we have Mahalo Musa Kitch in our back pocket, but if a big man falls in our lap who we think is better, then we're going to make it happen. And, you know, if we need to release him from his commitment, that's fine. Or we'll just, you know, bring him in and and double down at the big man spot, right? Like there's certain things you can do. And so we've talked about some other candidates that could potentially become available, that could potentially become eligible as part of some of these recent suits.

Starting point is 00:02:10 There was the suit in Ohio where they basically won the injunction against the NCAA to get another year. Now, that has since been appealed and is still kind of going through that appeals process. So we'll wait and see what happens there. But already some other areas have added into this kind of, I don't know, suit just in different states and kind of using it as precedent and piggybacking off it. We did an episode talking about some available candidates as part of the suits in like Georgia and Colorado. And now there's another one that is kind of happening out of all of this.

Starting point is 00:02:44 And some really interesting names as part of this one. I think this one's in like California where this one is coming through. So let's start here with tier one players because I do actually view a couple tier one players. And what do I mean when I say tier one available player? That is a player who I think if Kansas added, I would be viewing. them as a starter. So this would be like a real impact edition if you could bring them on. And the first one would be Jackson Kohler. Now, I should say this, that right now the schools that are getting the most smoke, the most buzz, if Kohler gets another year, it is Michigan State, just returning for

Starting point is 00:03:15 another year. The other big one is BYU. BYU, kind of in a search for some last minute. Big Man ads. And they obviously are a team that has a lot of, you know, money and brands to be able to offer a guy like that, right? Four years at Michigan State, you're talking about somebody who averaged 12 and a half points per game last year, nine rebounds per game, shot 50% from the floor, 39% from 3, 87% of the fat line. You can play him at the 4 or the 5. Now, defensively, you play him at the 4. It is a slower foot speed team. There's certain things you have to do defensively to kind of adjust for that. But offensively, you can make it work. You can play him at the 5, don't have as much, you know, rim protection necessarily defensively. So like I said, there's certain limitations,

Starting point is 00:03:53 but he's been a star big man for Michigan State team the last two years that has, you know, made the second weekend both times in the NCAA tournament. And, you know, so much so that he would be the guy that I would figure would come in. And to me would be, you know, a starter right away. Like if Kansas is at a Jackson Collar, I would view him as a starter. Would it be next to Keanu Dawes? Would it be, I don't know, like, I guess could you remember? does to the third. I don't know. I would just view him as being good enough to be able to come in and,

Starting point is 00:04:28 and, you know, go ahead and get that starting role. And he would be kind of a, a game changer commit in terms of what you would do. It would be a bit of a log jam, but yeah, that's the case. The other one is Sky Clark, and Sky Clark is a six-foot-three guard who played at UCLA for two seasons. He had some time with Illinois and Louisville before that, so it would be kind of similar to the Trey White Path, but 11.5 points per game for Clark this past season, two assists per game and a steal per game is the off guard playing next to Donovan Dent. Really good shooter. You're talking to career 38.5% from three. And this past season, he shot 43% from three point range. He's taking at least three and a half threes per game every year since he was a freshman.

Starting point is 00:05:08 If you bring in Sky Clark, he's the perfect off ball compliment to play next to a point card and be a good three point shooter and give you some defense, you know, from a guard perspective to play around Tyron Stokes. Those are the two guys that I think as part of this suit would come in and I would view as starters for KU. Now, Tier 2 are players that I think that are potentially, if they can win this suit and get the extra year, that I don't necessarily know if they'd be starters. I think they'd get to compete for it, but at the very least, I would view them as rotation players with a chance to start, right, if things go right. The first would be Duke Brennan. And this is interesting because, so Brennan is a 610, 235-pound five man out of Grand Canyon. Kansas actually had reported

Starting point is 00:05:51 interest and recruited Brennan, at least reached out to some degree. There's some sort of contact there between Brennan and KU last year. And I think last year, me included and many KU fans were not as sold on the idea of adding Brennan. He had a really good year at Grand Canyon adding, you know, averaging double doubles numbers, really good rebound numbers. But because of the foot speed defensively worries of how it was going to translate up, well, he goes to Villanova, who makes the NCAA tournament, he averages a double double,

Starting point is 00:06:19 12.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, shot over 64% from the field, each of the last two seasons. Sounds like Oregon's going hard after him. Again, I would have some questions on the defensive end of the floor, but I think he proved a little bit more that he can still produce at a Power 5 level. So whether he would be your backup big man or start at center, that's kind of how I would view that one. Corey Stevenson is the other one. He's a 6'6-6 guard, played at Juko, then two years at Cal State Bakersfield. Then he goes to Florida International, where he averaged 18 points. over six rebounds per game.

Starting point is 00:06:51 He was an all-conference USA player. Shot almost 40% from three on high volume. He's a career 39% three-point shooter. He would be somebody you add in. He would just throw into the competition with Colrizario and Dennis Parker on the wing. As far as being, you know, kind of wing scores to where who ends up the highest in the rotation, does whoever ends up the highest get a chance to start? That would kind of be the case for Stevenson.

Starting point is 00:07:13 And then Jevin Munez, who is a 6-foot-6 guard. He was at Delaware State, Florida Gulf Coast, and then most recently, Colorado state, we're kind of a jack of all trades. 9.4 points, 4.9 assists, 4 rebounds per game. He averaged over a stock per game, shot 47% from the floor, 36% from 3, and 70% at the foul line. He would be just kind of adding like a good all-around player that would, you know, you would assume would be able to fit in no matter what you can do because he can do

Starting point is 00:07:41 a little bit of everything in kind of a different way. Now, the next tier of players, I think potentially that could be available from this suit would be tier three, the kind of back end rotation guys, or fringe rotation players who are shooters. So you're kind of Jalen Coleman Lans role, where it's like you could be the eighth man, who's the last man on the rotation, you could be the ninth man who maybe is playing more spot minutes,

Starting point is 00:08:02 but regardless, your role would be come in and make threes for KU. The first is Jeremy Dent Smith. He is a 6-foot-one guard who played 20 minutes per game for Stanford last season, averaged over 8 points per game as a bench sniper. He shot 38% from 3% on 3% on. 4.6 tries per game. So, you know, there's your Jalen Coleman lands, Diggy Coy, whatever you want to call it,

Starting point is 00:08:23 roll. Same for this guy. Another Stanford guard. Benny Gieler, he is a 6-foot-1, Stanford Guard. He actually spent four years with the Cardinal, but 11 points, 1.6 steals per game, 41% from 3 on over 6 attempts for game. Again, you're just looking for a potential 9th man

Starting point is 00:08:37 to basically be a more veteran version of Luke Barnett. Those are a couple guys you could go to. And then the last one here is Cooper Noard, who is another four-year smart guy. a six-foot-two guard from Cornell, who, uh, notched an Ivy League high, 18.2 points per game last year, shooting 38% from the floor, 50, 3890 shooting splits.

Starting point is 00:08:57 And for his career, he's attempted almost 603 balls, made over 39% of them. So again, if you're just looking for a more veteran version of Luke Barnett that could come in to try to be your eighth or ninth man, then that could be one of the guys you go with. And then the last tier here is more of your roster filler, more of your 10th to 12th man type of guy. Cam Amberie, average normal.

Starting point is 00:09:17 almost 10 points on 38% from 3 at Southern. Jed Miller, 15 points, 6 rebounds, 41% from 3 at Montana State. Carl D.D. D.J. Richards, Jr., on 42% from 3 at UC Davis. DJ Richards Jr., career 10 point per game score on 39% from 3, most recently at Magnice State. And then Joshua Ward, who is a 14.5 point per game score on 44% from the floor for Cal State Fullerton. Any of those guys would be guys that I would view you bringing in to be kind of your 10th, 11th, 12th man, somewhere between, you know, that Jalen Coleman Lans role and the Gingala role, just somebody who would give you a veteran presence, give you another ball handler, probably not part

Starting point is 00:09:56 of the rotation, but could maybe play spot minutes here or there, and just give you another ball handler at least at the very least in practice. So there are some actually interesting names in that suit, and I'm sure we're going to continue to see other suits in other states, other areas, especially if more of these pass and kind of go through. So it'll be very interesting to see, but again, feels like KU has some names already lined up with some guys like bar, well and potentially counsel and who knows what happens with the Malik-Ewen thing still at this point in time and Musa Kitch. So who knows if they have to go in any of these, but like I said, certainly some interesting names that you absolutely could. All right, uh, KU baseball had a huge addition over the weekend.

Starting point is 00:10:31 We're going to break it down where the roster, what the lineup looks like, all that next. This is locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode's brought to you by Wayfair and your home should feel like your home. Sometimes it doesn't take a complete renovation to make that happen. It just takes finding the right piece at the right. price. Whether you're refreshing one room or updating your entire space, Wayfair helps make creating a home

Starting point is 00:10:56 that you love, feel more attainable. Wayfair makes it easy to shop for furniture and home essentials across every style and every budget with everything from decor, lighting, storage, seating, rugs, and more. Plus, with Wayfair verified, product specialists carefully evaluate products for quality,

Starting point is 00:11:12 functionality, and ease of assembly, helping choppers feel more confident before they buy. You know, I think one of the things that genuinely like surprised me when I was shopping on Wayfair was that it really just does have everything. And it's not just that they like have everything. It's that the discounted prices, it's the affordability. It's the ease of the delivery experience. Like it's such a pleasant surprise in the buying process, I guess. And so if you're ready to upgrade your home for way less,

Starting point is 00:11:42 whether you're, you know, moving into a new college apartment coming in here soon or you're selling your house and I don't know, you're retiring even and you're, you're, you're, you're, you're sizing down in the house and you want to refresh. Head to Wayfair.com right now, shop all things home and get your space ready for less. That is Wayfair.com, W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com. Wayfair, every style, every home. Thanks for joining us on Locked on Jayhawks, and we'll get to the TBT news and some other latest news for KU in a second. But some big news over the weekend as KU gets a commitment from Walt Jones.

Starting point is 00:12:18 And who is Walt Jones, you might ask? Well, he originally committed to Arkansas. out of high school, which obviously we know Arkansas is a very good, you know, baseball program. And there's been one that people who he has really good players. He ends up going to Juko baseball. I'm not sure the reasoning. I don't know if it was a, you know, sometimes guys go to Juko because of grades. But that's not really as much the case usually in baseball.

Starting point is 00:12:44 A lot of times in baseball guys who go to Juko because you can be eligible for the draft right away. So if you have a big year at the Juko ranks, like actually I think there was a, there's a recently, there's a kid who drafted. in, I want to say, like, the second round or something as a pitcher in this year's M-O-B draft and ended up not signing, and he's not sure if he's going to stay with his commitment to LSU or just go to Juko to where then he could be draft eligible again. And who knows, maybe that's somebody KU looks at in a year down the road. But point being with Walt Jones, he goes to Juko and has a great year.

Starting point is 00:13:16 He has 382 over 59 games. He has 10 home runs, 61 driven in. He steals 17 bases in a very high cliff. He in total had 24 extra base hits. So one almost every like two games had a really good eye, 474 on base percentage. OPS was near 1,200. I mean,

Starting point is 00:13:35 unbelievable season form. Like really good player. KU's obviously had a lot of success in terms of the Juco guys and Walt Jones kind of continues to figure that out. He also was just a freshman this past season, meaning that he comes into KU, he'll be a year two player. And because of the new five and five,

Starting point is 00:13:51 that means that it's basically like KU was bringing on in the old rules a true freshman. You get four years out of him. So win-win in a lot of ways for KU baseball, adding him. But this became super important to find somebody because when you looked at it, it seemed like Tyson LeBlong, who officially actually signed with the Tigers this weekend and got a little bit over slot value. You got like $1.6 million or something like that. So good for him for a signing bonus. But he departs as the shortstop. And then you added Jake Berkland, who was a really good player at the D2 ranks. He ends up getting drafted surprisingly for you maybe in the 19th round ends up signing with his MLB team and so now you're

Starting point is 00:14:27 left wondering oh no what are we going to do a shortstop right you could move kate baldridge over you could move somebody over and probably make it work but you know kU says and said no let's go out and get a big bat at the juco ranks and that's what you get with wall jones and so you slide him into shortstop the way i look at it like if you're going through this roster i think augusto mungariata figures to be a star at the catcher position. Ryan Chase is somebody that I'm expecting to be your starter at first. I mean, you're talking a over 1,100 OPS, his two years at Santa Fe College at the Juco ranks. Then you have your two returners at second and third with Cade Baldridge and Dillon Schlaudebock, who will both be four-year guys. Some good depth there with Carson Zagrin

Starting point is 00:15:09 and Landon Lozier and Aiden Zagrin. That at shortstop, obviously, now look at Jones being that guy. if, you know, Jones needs a breather. Maybe it's a guy like Lozier or Zagrin or moving Baldr's over for that day and you find, you know, room for somebody else at second or whatever. And then you look at the outfield, you know, Tyson Owens played a lot of center field this year for KU.

Starting point is 00:15:28 I bet you he moves over to one of the corners with either left or right. The reason being Jamie Paul Meese comes in as a transfer from East Tennessee State. He, uh, in his three years at East Tennessee State combined, has over a 900 OPS, which obviously he's been a very good hitter, but he's also an excellent defense. centerfielder. So you put Paul Mieson's center, you can move Owens to one of the sides.

Starting point is 00:15:50 And Owens goes from, you know, being a solid defensive center fielder to what you would assume would become a really good defensive corner fielder. And then you also add Aidan Muton, who at LSU Unis, which is the same school Tyson LeBlanc was at, uh, hit 411 over his two years of play there at LSU Unis with a OPS over 1,200. So three two there. Then you look at the DH spot. It's going to be highly competitive. Like, um, I think Carson's, Zagrin, now that maybe there's not the obvious place for him on the infield, was playing a lot of second base for Gulf Coast Estate College this past year. He hit 399 with an OPS over $1,200. You're going to want to get that dude in the lineup. And, you know, had you not

Starting point is 00:16:31 added Walt Jones, maybe Baldridge was moving over to short, maybe Zagrin would start at second. Well, now that, you know, fielding position isn't as clear. Maybe that's where Zagrin can be your starter as the DH. But I also think watch out for Gavin Schlaugherbeck. Again, took a medical red shirt this past year, but at the Juco ranks, you're talking about an All-American. He can be one of your backup catchers. Even Holden Grobel, another backup catcher was a really good Juco player for you. Like, if you need more of a contact hitter, you could go with a guy like Landon Lozier who's a career 318 hitter. So some options that you can kind of go with there now.

Starting point is 00:17:04 And that feels like kind of the final piece of the puzzle by adding Walt Jones to the lineup of things for Dan Fitzgerald and John Coyne. And then you look at the pitching side of things. I think a lot of depth that I feel really good about and some options, but definitely still some questions because I think Mason Cook and Ryan Ritter, in some order will be your top two starting pitchers. We'll see if Ritter can jump Cook. If you just go based off last year, you'd have Cook is the one, Ritter is the two. But, you know, Ritter probably has more pure stuff that maybe with another year under his belt,

Starting point is 00:17:36 maybe he can jump ahead of him, right? I don't know. For the other starting pitcher job, that becomes a really interesting question here. Do you go with Aidan Leeser, who was a former Nebraska player, goes to Iowa Western this past year, has a 2.2 ERA, right? Do you go with Manning West, who's had some success for you as a bullpen arm, including this past season and is doing some nice things in his summer ball league? What about Logan Harrell, who, you know, has a 3.9 ERA in three years at Treveka Nazarene in a 9 and a 9?

Starting point is 00:18:03 Or Ian Swanson, who, I don't know, maybe he profiles a little bit more to being a reliever with the 15K per 9. I don't know. Matt Insidle started some games for you. I don't know, Colin Smith, Grady Hoke, like, there's a lot of guys you brought in from the Juco ranks or the Division 2, Division 3 ranks that have had a lot of success, that it'll be heavy competition for that probably third and really, I guess, third and fourth starting pitcher roles for KU. But the good news of that is this, is that it means you're going to have a lot of depth. If you have a lot of guys that it's like, okay, as long as they're all good, if it's a good competition because there's a lot of players and pitchers where it's a good problem to have, that means you have a lot of guys who can be, quality bullpen arms for you and extend out the depth. And I like the fact that because you add Ben Covey,

Starting point is 00:18:49 the transfer from Coach Eyes, because you add Xavier Woods, the transfer from LSU Unis, and potentially if one of Ty Thompson or Emerson McKnight can take a step forward, you have more options as lefties this year. You have a lot of options in the bullpen with some of those quality arms. Obviously, probably not all of them are going to work out. Probably not all of them are going to stay healthy.

Starting point is 00:19:08 But on paper, I think there's more depth than the pitching staff this year. It's just can you figure out, you know, the rest of your starting rotation. But on paper right now, it's hard to say you're going to repeat what you did last year just because that would set the bar so incredibly high. Obviously, they're working to make

Starting point is 00:19:24 the bar and that that would be what you're hoping for each and every year. But I will just say this. Like, I expect this team to continue to be a top 25 team. Feels like they've made some really good additions. Feels like they have some really good returners. And as long as those players continue to improve, why can't you repeat what you did this past year?

Starting point is 00:19:41 All right, let's finish up It was cool watching Frank Mason end out K State over the weekend in the TBT. We'll get to that and plenty more. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Our episode of the show today is brought to you by The Game, which since 1986, the game has been creating classic college hats that fans are proud to wear, whether you're an alum, whether you're a current student, a season ticket holder, or simply just, you know, someone who never misses a game or never misses a show here, right?

Starting point is 00:20:10 A great college hat is more than just apparel. It's a way to represent your school wherever you go. Well, this year, the game is a game. name is celebrating its 40th anniversary. How about that? By giving fans a chance to save on some of the most iconic college hats. If you've been thinking about replacing an old lid or, you know, add in a new one to your collection, now is the perfect time. Um, I, you know, you just go to the website and you can see all the pictures of all of them. Um, I am, uh, kind of obsessed with the Kansas rope trucker hat. I think that one's pretty slick. You can go with one of the dad hats.

Starting point is 00:20:39 If you're more of a flat bill guy, you got options there as well. And, you know, with hundreds of officially licensed college hats to choose from, it can be tough to make your decision, right? Well, you'll find the perfect fit for game day and every day. Don't miss this chance to celebrate 40 years of the game with 40% off your entire order. Visit the gamecaps.com. That is the gamecaps.com. Use promo code locked on at checkout and you get 40% off, right? That's the gamecaps.com promo code locked on.

Starting point is 00:21:09 Celebrate 40 years of the game with 40% off, 4% off, code locked on at the game caps.com, but don't wait, this anniversary offer will not last forever. Get yours before the season starts. Thanks for joining us on Locked on Jayhawks, some of the latest news. How about the basketball tournament? It was not pretty for the KUJ Hawks team in game one. Marcus Garrick gets hurt. You get blown out by Michael Beasley in Kansas State. And then you go into game two. You're the home team. It's being played at Washburn's Arena. You have a good crowd in attendance, but they can never really get into the game because K-state is kind of putting you at an arm's length for most of the game. And then you go on this crazy.

Starting point is 00:21:49 come back. You win on the Ilam ending. Zeke Mayo goes off. Frank Mason hits the game sealer for KU in the Ilam ending. You force a game three, but it's like, well, they've still controlled, you know, whatever, 70 minutes of the action to this point and kind of goes back and forth. Again, the K-State team is up for, I'd say a little bit more of the game. But again, they close strong in the Ilam ending as the Jayhawks team. Zeke Mayo goes off again. Frank Mason again hits the game winner for you. And you advance on when he, two out of three. So you're moving on to the round of eight. It's the furthest that any of the KU alumni teams have been, obviously a little bit different from the standpoint of how the format is now,

Starting point is 00:22:29 but you were able to win two out of three now. Now it goes the single elimination. It gets difficult. The Wichita State team is pretty loaded and they have a very fierce home court environment. They have really embraced this event. So it'll be cool to watch on Monday night there. I guess a little potential Connor Frank camp, revenge. I don't know, who would be getting revenge? Kansas or Connor Frank camp? Anyway, so that'll be interesting to watch there, right? And I guess, shoot, now that I think about it, Frank and Frank were both freshmen on the roster. And Frank beating out Frank Camp was part of the reason Frank Camp transferred away to Wichita State, despite Frank Camp actually playing well for KU in that NCAA tournament.

Starting point is 00:23:02 Meanwhile, some changes to late night in the fog coming for KU this year. Instead of it just being an internal scrimmage, it'll be part of an exhibition game. So basically two late night in the fogs, right? So KU is going to be hosting Pitt State in a late night in the fog exhibition on Friday, October 16th. They'll be hosting Washburn for the women's team on Thursday, October 29th. And this still allows KU to host, or not necessarily host, they could go on the road, but play two more exhibition games. They'll be hosting Louisville and Florey. We know the week later, there's been some rumors about what the other exhibition could be potentially.

Starting point is 00:23:35 But that basically allows, I love it. It allows for an extra exhibition. It also allows us to have a better idea of what we're seeing because it's going to be more real basketball, I guess, even though it'll still be an exhibition. It'll be much more real than the scrimmage we see in the late night in the fog to be able to have takeaways for that for KU. Jennifer McFalls, meanwhile, agrees to an extension for KU softball. Well, deserved there after making it to the NCAA tournament this past season and have some key figures back on this year's team. So high expectations, once again, to try to get back to the tournament this year. And the last bit of news here is former Jayhawk offense lineman, Hakeem Hed Energy.

Starting point is 00:24:12 He's in a nice long NFL career so far continuing it on. He now signs with the Ravens, so he'll try to make their roster. now as training camp is getting ready to get going here for both the NFL and the Jayhawks with football upcoming. All right, that'll do 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. See you next time on LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - GAME-CHANGING Options Available for Bill Self if Given Another Year - Will He Strike for Kansas?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.