Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Is Jalen Wilson a Top Five Most Accomplished Bill Self Era Kansas Jayhawk + More Legacy Talk

Episode Date: March 23, 2023

Discussing the legacy left by Jalen Wilson in his time in Lawrence and some of the amazing accomplishments he had at KU. Where does he sit among all-time Jayhawk greats and in terms of Bill Self era players at Kansas. Is he a top five most accomplished and will he have his jersey retired?Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's Locked on Jayhawks, we discuss the legacy that Jalen Wilson will leave in his time at KU. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson. You can hear me as well on Rock Chalk Sports Talk, Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. on KLWN in Lawrence. Thanks for making Locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day. We're free and available wherever you get your podcasts and also on YouTube.

On today's edition of Locked on Jayhawks, where does Jalen Wilson rank among all-time KU players in the Bill Self era? What is the legacy that he will be leaving in his time at Lawrence? I guess first things first, he could have another year or two if he really wanted to, but we already know that's not going to happen. He celebrated Senior Day. The whole plan, him coming back this year, was for him then to go off and go to the NBA draft

after having a good year. He had a good year. He was a national player of the year candidate, first-team All-American, improved the three-point shooting, still wasn't a full strength. He didn't shoot like 38%, but he got it up enough to what he needed to, about 33%, 34% on the season. And he'll probably be like an early second round pick i would think in the

nba draft if he works out really well at the combine maybe he could work his way into the the back end of the first round um but that would be kind of the expectation for him going to the nba draft so i i think that it was unfortunate without bill self in the ncaa tournament specifically for jalen's legacy and career, because with them losing in the second round, it's not just that leaves a little bit of that bitter taste in your mouth for his final game in Lawrence and for the season that he was the biggest leader on the team and that he was the best player on the team

for them to go out like that. But I think the biggest part is if he could have gone to another final four, he would have been the first Bill Self player since I believe Connor Tehan to go to two final fours in his KU career. And, you know, if, if your list is the only players to go to two final fours is Jalen Wilson and Connor Tehan. Well, one of those is kind of unlike the other, like Connor Tehan was a really valuable role player for KU. Jalen Wilson was a star for KU, and then he would only be the only player to do that, or he could have been the only player to win backpack titles. And if he would have done that, it could have been a real argument that he would have been the most decorated player in Bill Self's time at KU.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to accomplish that, so the legacy becomes a little bit different than what it could have possibly been had he done that, and that's what not having Bill Self certainly sucks for that reason as well in regards to many others. But let's not forget how good he was, how important he was for a title team and for this year's team. So what did he accomplish? Let's run through the different awards, the different accolades,

the statistics, everything that he put together. Technically, he had a four-year career at Kansas. He had the one year where he had a medical redshirt. And who knows? Maybe if he doesn't take a medical red shirt that year, I don't know how much he would have contributed to that 2019-2020 team because they did have kind of the rotation set. But certainly he, I would think, would have been, I don't know,

maybe an eighth or ninth guy off the bench. He could have added a little bit more in terms of his total career stats and total career numbers. I guess it's possible that he would have been a sixth or seven pan off the bench because that was Christian Brown. And Jalen actually came in with like higher recruiting rankings. Now, obviously that doesn't matter once you're here and Christian, which was hitting threes off the bench and Jalen's more of a driver. So I don't know what his role would have been there, but he did have a four-year

career at Kansas, which those are fleeting nowadays. I know it doesn't sound like a gigantic accomplishment but it kind of is uh he made a final four he won a national title last season both of them were as a key contributor it wasn't just him you know as a uh freshman who was red shirting and he won a title and he gets to put that on his list no like he was a key contributor he was a starter on a team that won a national title and he had a lot of big plays and games over that NCAA tournament um I think he had like a double double in the Providence game I think he was second on KU in points and like led him in rebounds in the Sweet 16 Providence game in the uh national championship game he led Kansas in scoring so in the game that ku won the title he was ku's leading scorer don't let that be forgotten and he had two of the biggest plays

of that comeback he had the one where you were down 10 and it's the right before the under 16 timeout he gets the ball in transition runs into brady manik just hits the layup off the window and in manik's heel is inside the restricted area, gets the end one, and he's able to cut the lead down to seven right before the under 16 that really gets you that momentum. And then he has, for me, what is one of the most fun stretches of KU basketball that you'll ever see where KU, I think they tie the game at like 50 or something like that

on the end one by Ochagbaje. Then Remy Martin hits a corner three then DeJuan Harris gets a steal feeds Jalen Wilson he gets another and one and he's fouled and that moment was just pure joy exclamation everything that you could imagine he was part of that he won a title as a very key contributor he obviously reeled in a bunch of rewards he put up obviously big numbers especially this final season he's easily going to have his jersey retired he was the first team all-american who at another point in his career won a national title he was big 12 player of the year like he's going to get his jersey retired

that was a very clear choice it's not an argument or debate um over the course of his career he scored 1475 career points he grabbed 802 career rebounds. Those marks rank 26th and 14th, respectively, in KU's career, which is a lot of great players. Anytime you rank it in the top 50 of anything, that's pretty impressive. But in terms of the players, if we combine those two, in terms of the players to score 1,400 career points, and he's at 1,475, and grab 800 or more rebounds, he's at 1475 and grab 800 or more rebounds he's 802 the list is danny manning rayful friends nick collison drew gooden wayne simeon wilt chamberlain clive lavellette perry

ellis dave robish and jaylen wilson that's 10 guys so he's on a list with 10 guys who accomplished both of those feats and of that list danny man Manning, Rafe LaFrance, Nick Collison, Wayne Simeon, Perry Ellis all played all four years. And yes, even though Jalen was a four-year player, he played one game for like 30 seconds, and then he got injured and he was out for the year. So realistically, Jalen accomplished all that in three years. And if you just look at the list of ku players who had 1400 points and 800 rebounds playing three seasons or less the list is drew gooden will chamberlain who did it in two years because he's an absolute freak of nature uh clyde lavellette dave robish and jalen wilson that's a list of five guys pretty impressive feat to be on if you're jalen wilson hypothetically if you would

have come back for next year He probably ends up over 2,000 career points which that's a very Distinguished list probably ends up Over you know For like a thousand career rebounds and then That list even whittles down a little bit more But even just based on what he's accomplished It's a very impressive list he was

A all big 12 freshman team at one point He's been on the all big 12 newcomer team He's been on the all big 12 third Team now he's been on the all big 12 first team he's won big 12 player of the year now he's been a first team all-american there's a long list of awards his peak season because that's part of this too when you're evaluating best players you're evaluating career you're evaluating accolades you're evaluating what you look like in your peak season well his peak season he averaged over 20 points and eight rebounds per game, which those just individual numbers

match nearly any other top season we've seen in the Bill Self era. He's only one of three players in the Bill Self era to score 20 or more points in a season. Frank Mason, Wayne Simeon, Jalen Wilson. And him and Wayne are the only two to average 20 and eight for a season at KU, not just in the bill self era,

but since 1992, that's a very impressive list to be on. And then on top of it, he has been a key player for now three teams as far. And then the best player on one team, he has been a leader all the way through. I mean, a vocal leader,

even on the national championship team where you had Ochan Christian Brown, Jalen Wilson was a lot of times the spiritual and emotional leader and that matters and then he's obviously got the ire of his head coach bill self who called him one of the greatest winners that they've had in their time there wayne simeon brandon rush mario chalmers sharon collins cole aldridge marcus mor. Those are the list of players that right now have their jerseys retired who have played in the Bill Self era. Now Thomas Robinson surely going to get in

Frank Mason surely going to get in Devante Graham surely going to get in Ochai surely going to get in. I would think Udoka surely going to get in. There's some others that people might want to debate and you can have those debates yourself. But those are the for sure ones that will get in at some point. Jay is that list.

But at the very least, unless I'm forgetting someone, and again, like you might think, oh, you know, Perry Ellis, yes or no, will he get in? Joel Embiid, if he wins an NBA MVP, will he get in joel embiid if he wins an nba mvp will he get in maybe maybe not uh will devon dotson get in maybe maybe not whatever all those guys are are polarizing jersey retirement discussions the ones i just mentioned are either in or they are for sure going to get in so that would put in with the inclusion of jaylen wilson at the very least 12 bill self players on the tone

that means he would be one of the top 12 Bill Self players which if you're making a team which teams are 13 scholarships boom he's on the all big 12 or the all Bill Self team I guess in his career and Jalen is ahead of a few of those which we'll get into here in a little bit uh in career accomplishments or individual stats so you're already probably talking about a i mean if you just view accomplished he might be a top five most accomplished player or decorated player in bill self's time if you go based on best like maybe you'd be like well i think cole aldridge was just a better player or impacted this or that better than jaylen wilson whatever to that conversation you can you know spin it any different ways and that's what makes it difficult when you're discussing all time legacy

rankings. But if you're just talking most accomplished, he's for sure in that top 10 might even be in that top five. We'll get more into that here in a second. For this episode of lock a Hawks is brought to you by FanDuel sportsbook. The tournament is heating up. Now's the perfect time to download FanDuel America's number one rated sportsbook.

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go with that don't miss your chance to get your no sweat first bet up to one thousand dollars in bonus bets when you go to fanduel.com locked on that's fanduel.com locked on to learn more make every moment more with fanduel an official sports betting partner so who is on the short list for um ku in terms of the bill self players because if we get into the conversation of best players in ku history that's a little tougher to crack i don't know that i want to go quite there yet because you do have i will say this jalen wilson is on the short list of probably at that point what 20 guys for sure 25 you know top 25 of all time when you have a big 12 player of the year first team all american national champion all those things um i think he's probably somewhere in that range but

i haven't actually listed it out so i i don't know it could be higher than that it could be lower um but the point is if we just go with bill self players to make this a little bit easier and not have to include a little further down the list, who's on the short list for the most accomplished or best players in Bill South's tenure. Well, let's look at players who won big 12 player of the year. And this,

this just for instance, is going to go back to the entire time with the big 12. So this is a little Roy Williams, but Jalen Wilson joins a list to win big 12 player of the year of Kansas players with Rafe LaFrance, who did it twice Gooden Nick Collison Wayne Simeon Marcus Morris Thomas Robinson Frank Mason Devante Graham Yudoka Azubuki and Ochag Baji that's very good company there now as far as consensus first team all Americans in the Bill Self tenure you have 2005 wayne simeon you have 2010 sharon collins 2012 thomas robinson 2017 frank mason 2018 davante graham 2022 ochag baji and 2023 jaylen wilson

so that's a list of seven players and of that list this is unfortunate this is just a sad thing to talk about but um of that list of the seven players now, including Jalen Wilson, six of the seven all made at least a final four. The only one who didn't was Frank Mason, which is unfortunate. And it's a little bit ironic because you could argue Frank Mason is the best player of the bill self era at Kansas.

I mean, you won national player of the year. He swept the awards and it is the only one of his consensus. First team, all Americans who did not make a final four at some time in their career. Now, I guess Wayne Simeon didn't technically make a final four with Bill self when he was consensus first team, all American, but he did have one in his career. But if we narrow the list, if we narrow the list here of first team consensus,-americans who won a title a national title at some point in their career it leaves sharon collins ochagbaje and jaylen wilson that's it it's a list of three people so if you want to say well i think frank mason is better than jaylen wilson he won national

player of the year jaylen did not like you know frank put up more stats all time than the gym and me personally i'd have frank ahead ahead of Jalen on that list. But if you want to talk most accomplished player at KU, yes, the national player of the year award does carry weight that Jalen does not have. But both have a first team consensus All-American season. I think both have like all big 12, like 30 early on in their career. Frank has four years of playing versus Jalen having three, like full years of playing. But Jalen has the national title and Frank doesn't.

It's like you could make an argument that just based on who's more accomplished that it could be Jalen Wilson. And it again is unfortunate that Jalen didn't get a chance to make a deep run this year, not just because he could have added to the points totals and the rebound totals but if they make a final four he would have been the only player on this list to have multiple of them um I believe besides Wayne Simeon right yeah Simeon was on both 02 and 03 um so he would have just joined him but then when you look at under Bill Self it would be just Jalen Wilson so uh very very impressive stuff and then if you look at under Bill Self, it would be just Jalen Wilson.

So very, very impressive stuff. And then if you narrow down as well, just winning the title, it would just be Jalen as well. So where is he going to sit at the end of the day in terms of the Bill Self rankings? Let's discuss that next with Locked On Jayhawks. I think if you made a 13-player Bill Self team, he's for sure on that. right? If you're building a bill

self team, all time bill self team with the amount of scholarships you have, which is 13 Jalen for sure has to be on that. Now, if we look at, at just the list of players with their jerseys retired, which we talked about earlier, or, um, that for sure will have them retired. Which, to remind you, that list of jersey retirements in the Bill South era, Wayne Simeon, Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Shron Collins, Cole Aldridge, Marcus Morris. The guys that will, for sure, Thomas Robinson, Frank Mason, Devante Graham, Yudok Azubuki, Ochag Baji, and now Jalen Wilson. So it gives you 12 people. the guys that will for sure thomas robinson frank mason davante graham yudo kazabuki ochagbaji and

now jaylen wilson so it gives you 12 people so on its own that would put you on the the list of uh the 13 team bill self team whatever and now if you're doing it based off like you know just player like if you're making a team versus most accomplished like joel and bead might be on that team but if it's most accomplished like joel and bead's not going to be in the top 30 because he played 20 games right so um if we just look at it this way though with the players who have their jersey retired in the Bill Self era or will have them retired I think for sure I would have Frank Mason, Sharon Collins, Ochag Baji ahead of him. Frank was just so good. Sherron was really, really good,

and he had the title at some point in his career. Honestly, Sherron and Jalen Wilson's careers are very similar. They won a title being a key contributor and making key plays in the title game, but without being the best player on that team. But then they also had all-American careers after. Now, Sherron had four years of it. Jalen had three. Ochiai would put ahead of him as well. He did the first team All-American, the title thing in the same year where he was the best player on the title winning team. And he also, I guess, had like three and a half years of play. So I think those

three would for sure be ahead of him. I would probably argue for Wayne Simeon to be ahead of Jalen Wilson. I don't know that people remember how good Wayne Simeon was, but that dude was just an automatic bucket and rebounder. And if not for some injuries at the different points in his career, this probably isn't close. And it's unfortunate because people remember the way that he went out and losing in the first round. That sucks here too, but I probably would have Simeon ahead of him.

He also has two final fours, even though he didn't get title i uh i think the t-rob one is really interesting i actually i was thinking about this more and more i think peak season you might take what t-rob did in their peak season over jalen wilson but jalen's two years prior to this are way better than t-robs two years prior and also jalen has than T-Rob's two years prior. And also Jalen has the title. T-Rob went to the title game. I think you could argue Jalen ahead of T-Rob and most accomplished there. Again, if you're going off peak season, you know,

just what they were at their best, then maybe you would go T-Rob. I think Devontae Graham, that's a close one. Devontae had the extra year. He had the four seasons of play to Jalen's three. Devontae was first team All-American his final year. So was Jalen Wilson. Devontae went to a final four, but Devontae never won a title. Jalen did. I'd probably still argue Devontae ahead of Jalen Wilson, though, to be honest. Yudoka Azubuki, I would argue ahead of Jalen. I think he might have been a second team All-American, Yudoka was, but his impact was so insane. And I think part of the reason he was second team was because some people were splitting votes between, well, should I put Dotson or Yudoka on there?

And Yudoka was maybe the most impactful defender in the Bill South era. Like Jeff Withey had more blocks, Cole Aldridge had more blocks, but Yudoka still had a lot of them. And Yudoka, what was different versus him versus those other two centers in today's day and age of where guys switch or you get centers matched up on guards udoka could handle those guards a lot better than maybe some other centers in the bell south era and then he was just an automatic bucket inside that yeah maybe only average 12 13 a game but because he was so efficient and if you just left him single teamed, it would just destroy your defense.

And then all of a sudden, if you did start double teaming him, it would open things up for everyone else that he was just like so helpful. And they might have won a title his last year in 2020 anyway. So I think I would put Yudoka, Devante, Wayne Simeon ahead of him as well. I'd lean toward it with Frank, Sharon and Ochai. But again, you could make an argument that Jalen should be ahead of Wayne Simeon because of the title or that he should be ahead of this guy or that guy.

And you can legit make arguments in all those different ways. I think for sure he would be ahead of like Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers and Cole Aldridge for me. So that means somewhere in the top five to top 10 range of bill self players at kansas that is a hell of a list because there have been amazing players so if you go by most accomplished

he's probably close to the top five if you go by best top season he's probably in that i don't know top 10 to 15 range and if you go by um just you know kind of a mix of both, he's probably somewhere in that 8-12 range. But either way, that is very lofty praise for a career and for someone who will certainly leave a big legacy and did just that at Kansas, even though it ends with a bittersweet ending. That'll do it for this

episode of Locked on Jayhawks. I don't know when our next episode will be. Maybe we'll have something come out on Friday discussing Grady Dick's decision, possibly. Maybe we'll talk later next. I don't know. Try not to get burnt out with some of the season conversation here. But you can find us wherever you find any of your podcasts.

You can hit us up on YouTube. You can find me on Twitter at D Johnson Radio. And you can listen to me on Rock Truck Sports Talk Monday through Friday, 3 to 6 on KLWN and Lawrence. Have a good rest of your day. Later.