Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Hits & Misses of an Up-and-Down Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Offseason So Far

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

Kansas Jayhawks Basketball: Offseason Moves Reshape Roster. Will Bill Self's recruiting strategy pay off?Derek Johnson analyzes the Jayhawks' recent additions, including Flory Bidunga's return and commitments from Jayden Dawson and Tre White. The discussion covers KU's shift towards recruiting players who fit Self's system over pursuing top-ranked talents. Johnson examines missed opportunities in the transfer portal and speculates on potential future additions to complete the roster. He draws intriguing comparisons between the current squad and the 2009 Kansas team, highlighting the impact of incoming freshman Darryn Peterson.Tune in for expert insights on how these offseason moves could impact the Jayhawks' performance in the upcoming season.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

On today's Locked on Jayhawks, recapping what has happened so far in the KU basketball offseason. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What is happening? Derrick Johnson here. This is Locked on J-Hawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. And thank you for an everyday or catching each and every episode of the show. Whether it's anywhere free and available, you find your podcast or on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. And on today's edition of LOJ, we are recapping the KU

basketball offseason. Who have they added? Where have they swing and swung and missed? I guess would be the right way of saying that. Where do they go from here? What's still left in the offseason at this point in time for KU basketball and Bill Self? We'll get all to all that on today's episode of the show. Let's start with the happy thoughts. Let's start with what they have added to this point to the roster. And you know, kind of about recruiting to fit over talent sort of I mean, you're still recruiting talented fit. But you're leaning into that and also maybe missing that that kind of next big piece. So so far, let's go to the very beginning, the very beginning of

this offseason really, and you could say, okay, it's, it's technically adding Bryson tiller to the roster mid semester, and it's getting Darren Petersen's commitment and yada yada, but I really think of the off season once the season kind of ends in the first big, I guess, not even a pillar that fell, it was it was one that it was an unexpected pillar that you didn't even know had a chance of falling. That was for Badoonga entering into the transfer portal

and then eventually deciding to come back. Certainly you would think with a reworked NIL deal and more money to come back to KU. And obviously big news for KU because whether you go into Darren Peterson being excited to play with Flory or just the defensive presence and some of the potential that he showed in year one,

now as a lot of freshmen are, was a little inconsistent at times. And, you know, maybe it wasn't the best finish for Flory. Part of that probably too, was a little bit of the toll that he took by, you know, going from the starting lineup to then losing some of that playing time. And you think of the Baylor game

where he didn't really get much run in the second half. So that was probably part of it too. But Flory, I expect to have a big season. So he comes back. Then you get Jade and Dawson. And that was one, and honestly, it was Dawson before Flory, I expect to have a big season. So he comes back. Then you get Jayden Dawson. And that was one, and honestly, it was Dawson before Floria, I can't even remember. That was one where it was kind of out of the blue.

Like you didn't really hear about Kay recruiting this kid all of a sudden, bam. You locked him up and you loved the fit right away. He's athletic, three and D kind of two, three type of player could play the shooting guard, the small forward. You know, has a good amount of burst and athleticism too, is a good know, has a good amount of burst and athleticism to is a good defender, shoots a good amount of threes and makes them at a

decent clip. Great fit addition there. You add Trey White, a player from Illinois who at one point in time a while ago was committed to you out of the high school level and you end up adding Trey White at the time thinking that he's going to be one of you know, your wings that you bring on and now at this point, it's like he is the wing on the KU roster at this point in time but seems like a player who can do it kind of a jack of all trades so to speak like you

know, he's not the best three point shooter doesn't take a ton of attempts but he's decent at it, right? He's not like somebody who's going to get you a bucket all the time, but he can close out on, you know, if somebody close out on him, he can he can attack on a straight line drive, right? He's not the average in five assists per game, but he's a solid enough passer. He's a very good rebounder. I think defense, I view him as an above average to good defender. But, you know, he's just somebody that's going to do a lot of good things for Kansas that I think

is going to make him a winning player and make him a strong addition for KU. And then you had Melvin Council, and that's the one that everybody's loving because of the dog food stuff. And you know, if you ain't, if you ain't a dog, you dog food. I think that's the same there. And he's somebody who seems to be a very good defender seems to be a very good competitor, probably going to push a lot of the other players on the team. I think he's going to be somebody that at times maybe Bill Self will clash with in practice because we've heard stories of other withers, Frank Mason, Russell Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor, of guys that Bill Self would clash with at times in practice, they go back at him. And, you know, even though in the moment, maybe Bill Self is a little pissed about it, deep down, he kind of likes that you have this guy who was kind of challenging him and being kind of that alpha dog mentality. And I think there's going to be that like happy roller coaster marriage with him

and Melvin Council that's going to endear him to Bill Self in a lot of different ways. The most recent addition we've seen is Corbin Allen, he was the local kid recruit from the Oak Park area more of a developmental, long term, back end of the roster type of guy at this point in time, but those are the big ones at this point. And so you're left with, you know, having all those additions, you bring back your returning players, you bring in your freshmen players like Darren Peterson. It's one of those things where, as every addition was made by KU and by Bill Self, we said along the way, okay, I love that they're recruiting for fit over talent. Like I love that they're bringing guys in that are either going to A, fit the roster around Darren Peterson,

and or B, are going to be Bill self type of guys because if you bring somebody in who you know, we could say hey, a guy like Rylan Griffin would be great to surround Flora Badoonga and Darren Peterson with and I think from a from a X's and O's from an on paper standpoint, yes, it would make sense to bring in a good three point shooter who like that is their role next to Peterson and Floyd. But what do we, Bill Self is the coach and if you ain't going to earn Bill Self's trust, it's a moot point about what you are. So I said this before the off season started, I want Kansas to just recruit Bill Self guys. And even if it means they're a worse three-point

shooting team, if they're an average, if they're below average three-point shooting team, but if they have a bunch of dogs, they have a bunch of guys that Bill Self trusts, I'm going to roll with that roster more than the alternative because you feel like Bill Self is going to get the most out of them. And when Bill Self gets the most out of a team, those teams tend to do pretty darn well in college basketball, right? But it's funny because as much as we've been saying this about, you know, I love the approach going for fit over just going for the big shiny thing. It's, it is almost at times, I mean, we're sitting here in June with an incomplete roster for KU basketball. It almost feels like we've crossed

the line. You know, there's always a line for everything, right? Everything is good in moderation. You know, you have two, three glasses of wine, great. You have seven or eight, you're feeling it the next day. So it's like everything is good in moderation. And that's how I feel at the fit thing here. It's like, this is a great strategy. I love that they're doing this. They're finding Bill Self guys, but it's like, okay, we're starting to get to a point

where you can't have role players if their role is gonna be asked to be more than role players. I guess is kind of where we're at right now. And there still is time for them to figure it out. There still is time for them to get that other big option, so to speak, that I think kind of makes the rest of the puzzle pieces fit to this point in time. It's just like right now, if you don't get that one other game changer, like let's say you do have to with your final roster additions, you do end up having to go for, you know, even more role players. It just makes it a little bit harder to say, okay,

we recruited all for fit, if you just end up with a bunch of decent pieces, because for the role players for the fit players to fit in, they have to have a spot to fit into, right? You can't ask a guy who, okay, like imagine if Kansas brought Isaiah Moss, Isaiah Moss had a perfect role for the team that he was asked to play for, but imagine if instead there was a different roster

and Isaiah Moss was brought on with the idea that, hey, can you be what Zeke Mayo was last year for Kansas? Maybe that is the good example last year. If can you be what Zeke Mayo was last year for Kansas? Maybe that is the good example last year. If Kansas would have had a good enough team last year that Zeke Mayo had to come on and basically be like an even better shooting version of Isaiah Moss, that would have meant KU probably had a really darn good team, right? But if you end up with a role player having to play a almost star level role, that's where you run into problems.

So there's that fine line, you recruit to fit, you recruit to the players that fit your system, but you still gotta have the top end talent that allow those players to fit in. It's like you're at a fancy restaurant, right? And you go to a fancy restaurant that bills, that advertises as being this like awesome four course dinner. I don't know, I guess Darren Peterson and Flory

are like the entree in that scenario. You did sign a bunch of good like side dishes, like I don't know, adding some of these good transfers that are fit players are adding those good side dishes that help bring up the entree, right? Maybe the appetizers are like, I don't know, or the salad is like guys that are returning like El Marco Jackson,

but right now you don't have a dessert. And you know, if you don't have a dessert and you know, if you don't get the dessert at the end of your meal at a fancy restaurant like okay, if the if the dinner was great, the dinner is great, but you're gonna feel like something's missing. You paid a lot of money. You might have paid 100 200 bucks for this force for course dinner and you were expecting a four course dinner the fourth

course being dessert and it wasn't there. You'd be a little bit bummed out about that, right? It wouldn't be a complete meal. That's what they're missing right now. They can still be a good team. Darren Peterson's going to I don't know, the expectation. One of the better players, honestly, that we've seen in one of your scenario for Bills self, right?

And I think Flory is going to take a big step and you have a lot of good role players. But can you land that one final piece that allows all the role players to fit in to their perfect role, as opposed to having to play maybe bigger roles than you might have hoped before the offseason came. So let's get into where they've missed where they've kind of swung and missed to this point in time what's still to come. Coming up here. This is Locked on Jayhawks. This episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel

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If it wins, you'll get $200 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA and the Lockdown Podcast Network. Thanks for joining us on this episode of LOJ. Don't forget you make Lockdown College football or Lockdown College basketball your second listen every day. So I think to this point in time, it's odd because I mean, certainly it's always going to be what have you done for me lately? And a lot of times like unfairly, I think fans in general are very short sided with their thinking. And a lot of times and this doesn't mean okay, but a lot of times you see this just fans of any sport, any team, whatever, then you forget like, something that happened a year ago, especially from like the national scene. So point being like, don't forget that we wanted this, we wanted Kansas to recruit more to fit more to their guys.

Now, again, there is in moderation, and you'd like them to have landed that other big piece to make all these other things make even more sense. There are some fair criticisms, I think, to the staff at this point about maybe overemphas emphasizing the strategy, going too far into it, being too slow to progress maybe or too slow to look overseas, like, should they have been looking overseas from the start? Should they have even tried to get some of these

big targets that they've missed on, if they knew that they weren't even gonna have the money to be able to bid as much of those? Those are valid concerns and risks that the staff seem to have took that didn't really pay off. But also at the same point in time, even though I think those are valid criticisms, criticizing what they have brought in so far, I don't think is fair. Because again, this team was voted preseason number one back to

back years. Why would they not learn a lesson and not go for the shiny object, AJ Storr, Ryland Griffin, Hunter Dickinson? Why wouldn't they go for more fit pieces, especially when you have Darren Peterson coming in, who Bill Self continues to talk up like he is going to be an all-American level player right off the bat for Kansas. So it's one of those things where it's like, to me, I still overall like what the offseason has been, especially knowing in the back of my head,

like, they're not just gonna roll out with 10 players, I would be shocked if they roll out the season with 10 players or even 11 players, they're probably gonna add some more players, right? And so yeah, maybe it's not an a off season, depending on how this finishes. Like, I still think it's gonna get a passing grade. And you still do have a chance to get an a off season to be clear, based on how you do add from here. And I have like some of the fits,

but there have been a lot of swings and misses. And I think part of that too has made it feel worse for fans. This was almost like KU football's recruiting class last year. I think in the end, like in the class of 2025 for KU football, people feel content with it. Maybe it could have been even better. It wasn't quite up to the class of 2024.

It's not quite up to what they're doing right now in the class of 2026, but it still ended up being, especially by Kansas standards of their past recruiting classes, a good recruiting class overall compared to other ones that the Jayhawks football team has brought in. And that's kind of where we're at right now with this KU basketball offseason, it feels like to me, where it's like, it, you're almost like, you're almost better off not

being in recruitment sometimes, just from like the fan. Again, this is not how you want to approach things, you have to be willing to put yourself out there to be able to get these things done. And sometimes it doesn't go your way. Sometimes you're hot and a bunch of them go your way, right. But it just does feel like they've they've missed on a lot more than normal of ones that are kind of out there. And then you have you have kind of parlayed that with now we're in a stage of the offseason where it doesn't feel like there's just like a ton of information just overflowing out about, you know, oh, Kansas had the interest in this target,

or this target, even some of those lists that we would see from, you know, transfer portal like aggregation sites where it might be like, Oh, Kansas has shown interest in the list of like 20 schools that have also shown interest in this player. Even if that stuff wasn't true, it felt like you were staying in the news cycle. It felt like you had information be like, okay, they're still recruiting. Obviously, they're still recruiting. Obviously, they're still trying to get players right now. Obviously, they're, you know, Bill Salves making phone calls and doing what he can to make things happen. But it feels like right now, because there's not of information leaking

out, I think part of that, you go back to the Jade and Dawson commitment, is a Kansas specific thing that they're trying to keep it that way. I think another part of that, if you are looking to international prospects, that stuff's not going to get out as easy as agents in America, because agents here in the US very much like to turn it into a public bidding war. Whereas in Europe, things are a little bit different there with some of that stuff. So and especially because if you're negotiating some of these kids have like buyouts with their their clubs over there. So it's just a different type of situation. But yeah, I mean, there there have been. I mean, if you want to talk about going back to last offseason, if you want to include that, because now that LeBaron Phylon is coming back, but the flurry saga, right? losing out on extra money to bring him back. But I don't know, I almost don't want

to count that one. Because it's like, what's the alternative not pay flurry? And honestly, like the number that's been rumored around Flory compared to like some numbers that have been rumored around some other guys, like, still seems like a fair deal for what KU got there. But like the Josh Dix one, right? That would have been great to have Josh Dix in the roster. At the time, it maybe felt like, okay, maybe this bidding is getting a little bit high. And maybe we're early in the offseason. Let's let's wait and see. And now it's kind of looking back like, yeah, maybe that was actually a fair

price for Josh Dix. And maybe they should have gone for it. Not going harder for a couple players Donovan Dent and Keishon Hall. Those are ones where again, looking back, it's like, yeah, again, I'm trying to remember the numbers that were floated around like when Dent committed to UCLA, it was like two or three, I want to say I could be off on that, which at the time, it seemed incredibly high. But now with more and more numbers seemingly coming out, like Rob Wright

getting whatever the rumored number was around three, three and a half or something from BYU, it's like, oh, I could have had Donovan Dent for even less than that. Right? It's almost like a misjudging of the market in some ways where, you know, then we eventually lead up to some of these recent ones with Dom a SAR, which that one seems more about just he just wanted to go to Duke all the way along and was playing along these other schools. And then Darian Williams, which that one,

you know, the myriad of different things that might have gone into why he did or did not pick Kansas, going back to the idea of not being more ahead of schedule with some of these European prospects. It has felt like you have swung and missed even more. And part of that too is probably also that you didn't get that big commitment in tow from a transfer.

And like, okay, think about this too. If Darren Peterson, because a lot of the other big time freshmen, like one and done recruits that Bill Self has landed have been spring commitments. Andrew Wiggins was a spring commitment. Josh Jackson was a spring commitment. You think of a lot of these guys, I mean, Shaq Diallo, obviously that one didn't work. But at the time, it was a big deal that they got him as a spring commitment. A lot

of these like the best players, KU has had as far as these spring additions. I mean, even if you want to talk some of the big transfer portal splashes like Hunter Dickinson, that was a huge deal when they got them. These were spring editions for KU. If Darren Peterson would have picked Kansas in the spring, everybody would be feeling a lot differently about the offseason right now. Because again, we have a bad time compartmentalizing like when things happen and it really is what have you done for me lately in a lot of different ways. I continue to think that this team is going to be good. They're going to be better than last year. Now, do I think they're one of the, I don't know, eight best teams in the country right now? No, I probably don't. But I keep going back in my mind to that 09 team, the team who was after the title winning team

when you had Sharon Collins, All-American Guard, Cole Aldridge, who was a all-Big-12, all-Defensive center. And I kind of look at it and I go, okay, I know that's very high standards, two guys that have their jerseys hanging in the rafters at Allen Field House, but like, can Darren Peterson be an All-American like Sharon was? Yeah, seems like it. Can flurry be a, you know, rebounding and defensive presence and have at least a little bit on the offensive end of being efficient like Cole was. Yeah. And then you have kind of a bunch of either young players there or role players around it. I don't know, that team got a three seed, they won the big 12. Now, they didn't have to deal with like, what Houston is now in the big 12. And Blake Griffin was injured when they played him that year and stuff and yada yada. But like, point being, right now my

money would be on like Kansas getting a three or four seat. And that's not a bad place to be considering that you still got some spots left in the offseason. So what's to come for KU? We'll discuss that next. Okay, what's left for KU basketball? And thank you for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks in the offseason. Again, the longer we do wait, the more you do get restless, the more you start to fear what's going to happen here. Are they really not going to add another difference maker?

And maybe they won't. Maybe they won't add another difference maker if we're talking about it from the sense of what Darianne Williams or Dame Sarr could have possibly been or you go back to the quote that Bill Salf gave CJ Moore of the athletic one somebody who you get them 14 or 15 a night. Maybe that isn't possible anymore. But can you get somebody else who gets you 10 to 12 a night at the very least where it's like, they are at least starter level good, right? Because that would still be a big addition to helping kind of fill everything out.

And right now, the way I view it, you kind of have like two and a half rotation spots. It's not just that you have three scholarships, it's that you have like two and a half rotation spots to fill. So it really is an incomplete project to look at what this Kansas team is right now, right? I mean, if you think about it this way, okay? Obviously, Darren Peterson, and then you're litany of guards with him, right? With the additions of

Melvin Cowlund, and Jaden Dawson, you have Marco Jackson coming back, like those four, I feel like, okay, they're going to be part of the rotation. You look at the wing, Trey White, obviously part of the rotation. Flora Badunga, starting center, boom, part of the rotation. That's six. And then you look at it and you're like, yeah, who's going to be your backup big? Okay, that would be a rotation spot. Who's going to be that diggie coy, Jalen Coleman lands roll. That would be that half a rotation spot where it just kind of depends on the given night. And then the other one is like, who's going to be your other wing slash foreman, hypothetically, like Trey White might be the four. So maybe it's just another guard wing type like a Jane and Dodd. I don't know, whatever, right?

And maybe Bryson Tiller fills that spot, but there's a chance that KU brings in a big man as part of the rotation, that they bring in a guard who can score and be that diggy coit Jaylen Coleman lands role. And maybe then the last edition would be more developmental or another backup bag even further your your kind of depth and bodies you have there or maybe it would be

another way, right? So there's a chance you could be getting one, one and a half to two and a half rotation players still to come in the portal. So it is incomplete to look at it right now. But yeah, the longer we go, the more it does become a little bit of okay, maybe we lower our expectations. Like maybe, you know, it isn't somebody again who's gonna give you 14 or 15 a night. And yeah, that would be unfortunate.

And maybe that would be the difference if you added somebody like that of thinking this Kansas team is one of the five, six, seven, eight best teams in the country, versus if you do add somebody who you think can get 10 or 12 a night, maybe you're just thinking, oh, okay, I think they're one of the 12 best teams in the country. Is there that big of a difference there, though?

I don't know. I don't know. I still continue to bank on the fact that like what if Darren Peterson is just the best player in the country? And like, I know things haven't gone well for Kansas and Bills South the last couple of seasons. Bills South still probably the most accomplished coach active in college basketball right now. And so if you do have the most accomplished coach active in college basketball right now.

And so if you do have the most accomplished coach in college basketball and what could end up being the best player in college basketball, that's gonna win you a lot of games. So three scholarships left for KU. The other part of this is like, do you pivot at this point in time? And there are some interesting wings

that are available from the international ranks and in Europe, but is their price tag going to be too much to bring over? Because again, keep in mind, you're not just paying their NIL dollar to come over. You also do have to pay that buyout with the the club that they're on. And that could differ depending on, you know, what club you're kind of looking to, right. So that's where it becomes even more difficult, where it's like, okay, maybe you can't afford one of those big

names, like we've been talking about some of these guys. And so do you pivot? Do you think about you know, bringing in a big man where you're going to play five to 10 minutes a night of Flori at the four big man at the five now that would kind of stretch your big men depth fin. You would probably have to bring it like if you have three scholarships left, if that's the pivot you decide to make two of those three are gonna have to go to big men. Because if you play five to 10 minutes of flight, I guess I say that and they started the tubing lineup of Florian hunter even with KJ out this past year and they didn't have the big men

depth behind it. So maybe that is the pivot. Maybe they just say, Hey, we can get a little more bang for our buck with bringing in a big man. And then we're going to bring in another big man beside like maybe you bring in an international big man and you bring in swim Nick, who we talked about from Oklahoma State or something, just, you know, that sort of path. And then you bring in, you know, I love me some bugs, the third from the sharpshooter and the transfer portal, I think you still

available. I don't know. Maybe you do that. And you just go for shooting and the transfer portal. I think you still available. I don't know. Maybe you do that and you just go for shooting and that big man and then you commit to playing too big basketball for 1015 minutes a game. That might be scaring some folks if that is that is kind of the thing, especially if one of the big men can't at least shoot. But do you have to make that pivot just to say, give us the best talent? Is that just erasing everything you did in the portal

where we said, hey, they recruited for fit more than talent. If you do then go for talent over fit and bringing in another big man to play that way, is that just the opposite of everything you did? And that might actually have some valid criticisms if that ended up happening. But let's wait and see what happens. Cause again, there's still a good amount of off season left.

There's three scholarships left. I know it's slow. I know it's taking longer than we all could have hoped for, including myself here. Something's going to happen. Like I said, they go into the season with 10 guys, right? It's just not going to happen. I refuse to believe that is going to happen. So I guess the waiting game to be patient together.

I know we don't like to be patient. All right. That'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. We can find our show anywhere. You get your podcast right here with L.O.J. anywhere on the audio side of things and on YouTube where you can like and subscribe to the show. See you next time for another edition of Locked on Jayhawks.