Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Jayhawks Portal Target: Abdi Bashir ROCKS at Threes, ROLLS Over on Defense | Does He Fit Kansas?

Episode Date: April 30, 2026

Kansas Jayhawks basketball weighs the high-risk, high-reward potential of adding elite three-point shooter Abdi Bashir from Kansas State. Could Bashir’s deadly perimeter game ignite KU’s offense, or will his defensive struggles and recent foot surgery hold back Bill Self’s rotation? Derek Johnson breaks down Bashir’s eye-popping shooting stats, his rocky defensive metrics, and the fierce debate among Jayhawks fans about fit and playing time. Key topics include comparisons with recruit Vyctorius Miller, how Bashir’s strengths and shortcomings impact Kansas’s Big 12 title ambitions, and whether Self’s coaching style can unlock the transfer portal standout’s value. Will securing Bashir give KU the bench scoring punch they need—or introduce too much defensive liability as they pursue another deep March Madness run? Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Maybe the most polarizing player I have done in one of these deep dives. Abdi Bashir seems to have some interest from the Kansas Jayhawks. You are locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's going on, Derek Johnson with another episode of Locked on Jayhawks. We're going to be deep diving, breaking down Abdi Bashir, who did a Zoom call with Kansas and break down his potential game. to come over from K State over to KU, I guess following the Dylan Edwards path,

potentially there. So we'll get into his scouting report, potential fit with KU, some of the shortcomings with Bill Self and more. He is a 6'4-175-pound, rail-thin shooting guard, who will be a senior in the upcoming 2026 to 2027 season. And according to Sam Kayser of League Ready, recently conducted a Zoom call with Kansas. You know, is that leverage to try to tie up Victoria's Miller? Is that because KU has a lot of interest in him? Like, who knows exactly? But the reason KU would have interest is because of the three-point shooting.

Bashir attended to Monmouth out of high school and played 33 games off the bench, six points per game. And immediately the three-point stroke was evident 39% from three-point range as a freshman. He's originally from Nebraska too, so Midwestern kid. And then as a sophomore, he was an all-com. conference first team pick when he scored over 20 points per game on 38% from three. You're talking over 10 three point attempts per game. Incredible volume there.

Then he transfers to Kansas State, which, you know, that was a disaster, which was, you know, partially everybody's fault who was probably on the team, right? He also got hurt, though, but 13.2 points per game, 44% from three, also very high volume. And ultimately, his season came to an end in mid-January as he had to get foot surgery, right now among the 18 games he played he only made one or zero threes twice the other 16 games he made multiple threes and he made five or more threes in a game on seven occasions so again this is one of the best shooters in the transfer portal some of the metrics talk about good offense and not good defense 83rd percentile offensive r a pm 40th percentile defensive r apm 88th percentile in

offensive winchairs per 40 16th percentile in offensive winchairs per 40 16th percentile in defensive win shares per 40, 81st percentile in PER, 75th percentile in placement player. The on-off number is actually pretty good. Like, K State was almost 16 points per 100 possessions better when he was on the floor. But if you go back to his year at Monmouth, they were like six, seven points worse per 100 possessions on defense when he was on the floor and only like 1.6 points per 100 better overall. Now, do keep in mind, you missed a lot of the best.

big 12 games when they were, you know, losing by a lot of points. So had he played in those games, the on-off numbers probably would be a little bit more neutral this year. But all over the board on some of the transfer ranking sites as well, Evan Miyakawa has him as the 174th rated player for the ratings. He is unrated at both on three and the athletic. But 24-7 sports has him ranked 130th. If you look at Bart Torvik, interestingly enough, KU's rating actually goes down if you add him to the team. It's slightly. The ranking stays the same, but the rating slightly goes down overall. But this is a really interesting one. And it has to depend on cost and roll. It's one of those classic ones. But it's also one that is very polarizing right now for KU fans because you have the headline of one of the best three-point shooters,

potentially in the country next year, versus one of the worst defenders in the country next year. So let's break it down a little bit more with the Scouting Report next. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode is brought to you by Indeed. Workplace chaos, deadlines stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have to fill is still sitting open. When the pressure's on, you need the right hire. This is a job for Indeed, sponsored jobs, which helps you reach the right people who actually fit where you're looking for,

the right skills, experience, location, so you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles across your post. In the minute I've been talking to you, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide. So if you're hiring, spend less time, searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all the boxes with Indeed sponsor jobs. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsor jobs.

And listeners of the show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast. Now support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on the Locked on Jhawk show. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply need to hire this a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Let's get to scouting port of Abdi Bashir, and then we'll come to a fit conclusion here. So the biggest strength here is obviously the three-point shooting. He shot 44% from three.

That is incredible, right? Just to put a number on it, that is in the 97th percentile for guards. He also led the country in three-point attempts per 40 minutes. So the fact that you could be that efficient when the volumes that high is even more impressive because it tells you that other teams are highlighting you from three. They're guarding you well from three. You're getting them off in a bunch of different ways from three. It just makes it even more impressive.

And it did translate into bigger games. In the 21 career Ken Palm Top 100 games he's played, he is shooting 41% from three in those games. He can also hit from really deep range. You're talking 44% on short threes, according to CBB analytics, 45% on long three. So he's just as effective on the deeper ones as he is the shorter ones. He can also hit them off the dribble. He was in the 97th percentile in points for possession on dribble jumpers because of the three-point shooting off the dribble. He also went 8 of 18, which smaller sample size there in the 18 games played for K-State, but almost 50 percent when he was shooting threes in the final 10 seconds of the shot clock.

He also shot 44 percent in half-court settings from three. So again, you go through all these situations. He's pretty situational proof and just an excellent, unbelievable three-point shooter, legitimately one of the best three-point shooting. in the portal and in college basketball next year. He's also got a good laying foot seven. You know, that certainly doesn't hurt here. He doesn't turn the ball over. I also think he's probably a little bit better of a passer than he gets credit for.

You're talking being in the 84th percentile for turnover rate. Obviously, his style of play where he's more of an off ball shooter is going to lead to less turnovers. But he actually had an above average assist rate too. And he had really good pick and roll passing stats, which is important because you can run him on a pick and roll. and if they make a mistake and go under the screen, he'll just fire it.

And if they over-emphasize on the pick and roll because he's a good three-point shooter, he does a good job of hitting the big man on the roll, right? He's overall in the 80 percentile and assist to turnover ratio. Now, some of the weaknesses here, the defense is the big one, right? I've talked about some of those in defensive metrics, below average in defensive RIPM. He was very bad in defensive windchairs. Hakeem rate, which is a combination of steel plus block rate, he was in the third percentile, so one of the worst percentiles in the country.

And here's the really bad ones here. There were 133 big 12 players this past season who played at least 500 possessions. He barely made it on, but he was 126th of the 133 on Evan Miyakawa's defensive BPR rating. And if you look nationally, he was outside the top 2000. Now, if we go back to the year prior, at Monmouth, there were 109 players in the CAA who played 500 or more possessions. He rated out 106th of 109 in defensive BPR in the CAA. I do not say this to over exaggerate.

This is legitimately one of the best three point shooters in the country next year. It's also legitimately one of the worst defenders in the country next year. And that is what is leading to this polarization here, I think among KU fans of do you want Obde Bechir or not. He's also not a good rebounder, eighth percentile in offensive rebound rate among guards, 30th percentile in defensive rebound rate among guards. He's not a great athlete. Doesn't get dunks, zero this season, doesn't really get rebound, doesn't run or jump super

fast or high. He obviously has a lack of strength. You're talking 175 pounds. I think it was like 165 the year before. And I think that really shows up for him, you know, some of those areas, the rebounding, defense. I think it shows up for him in the putrid two point shooting. He was in the sixth percentile in two point shooting this season. That's something where you would think, you know, hey, you're this excellent three point shooter. A lot of times, like, you would see like Kobe

Brea, for instance, it was this excellent three point shooter a couple of years ago. He was also incredibly efficient on twos because he used that ability to backcut guys and get easy layups. That's not the case for Bashir. He only shot 46% at the rim. That's very bad. 17% on short mid-range shots according to CBB's shot charts even the long mid-range was 36 percent so not great there um and if we expand it out in totality for his entire career you're only talking 36 percent on twos and 32 percent on twos against ken palm top 100 opponents so yeah that it's pretty much you're buying into one main skill it's the three-point shooting right doesn't really get to the free throw line he's actually weirdly enough a below average free throw shooter for a guard he also important to note is

coming off a foot surgery. We saw that be an issue for Shaquille Moore for Kansas. We saw that David McCormick played through it, but, you know, was an issue that that limited him at different time. So that is a real question, you know, if that would affect him anymore, right? Because if you already have this guy who really struggled defensively, now if he's not 100% coming off the foot, what would that mean? So what would the fit on the team be? Is this a take? We'll get to all that. and more in the debate that is raging on among KU fans. Today's episode is also brought to you by the everyday where you can get the ad free of the show

at locked on jahawks.supercast.com. Okay, so Abdi Bashir, it's a big argument among KU fans because you get the KU fans that are like, he's one of us three-point shooters, you know, in the country, don't overthink this, like add the threes. Then you get the other side of things, which is, but the defense is so bad. And I think I'm kind of annoyed by the arguments at both ends if I'm being completely honest because, like, some of the arguments that are coming across of

the defense is so bad is coming across in this world of totality when it's like, okay, but if he's going to come in as a guy who's your eighth, ninth man, seventh man who's playing 10, 50s per game, like, it's not going to, the three point shooting is going to be his most important role on the team in that specific role. You know what I mean? The flip side to it is the people who are arguing like, oh, you want, you know, you just want to star off the bed. It's like, no, that's arguing in bad faith too, because people just want somebody that Bill Self is going to actually play off the bench. And there is a very big risk.

If you take this year, there's a, there's, it's a risk reward, right? The reward is he comes in and he shoots 45% from three off the bench and you have an automatic sniper. And yeah, if if he's getting torched on the defensive end, he gets a shorter hook in that specific game. But, um, you get this situation where I think, It's almost like everybody's arguing in bad faith. And it's also silly to me because it's like, this is for your probably like seventh or eighth man.

And it feels like the arguments coming down to Abdi Bashir versus victorious Miller. I personally lean Miller in that discussion just from a standpoint of like, I think Miller is going to have a very big jump. Like I think Bashir is who he is. I think Miller, there's still a little bit of untapped potential there. I think there's more athleticism. I think there's a little bit more handling the basketball, driving the basketball, certainly. Miller was still a good three-point shooter, not nearly what Bashir was. But I think there's another level Miller can get to, and he at least was okay on the defensive end that I think can get even better with another year.

But I got to be honest, like, I don't really have a problem with either guy. I'm kind of in the middle of this camper. I'm just like, hey, I'm still happy Kansas got Tyron Stokes. If they get victorious Miller or they get Obdi Bashir, like, cool, whatever, man. They get another piece off the bench. Now, I do, am I worried, yes, about the defense? And it's not because, I mean, it is because of the defense, but it's less about the defense in general. I don't want this to get mistaken as people are like, oh, but you want shot makers.

Yes, I do. I want guys who can make shots. I think Obdibashir would at least be a fun player to watch on the court. And this is entertainment at the end of the day. But this is one of those things where it's like, what is Bill Self going to do? My contention, my argument, my worry with the defense being as bad as it is, is that would it lead Bill Self to? to, hey, he misses his first three, he's out of the game when he makes one defensive mistake, where he doesn't get to shoot it.

Like, we've seen that before, you know what I mean? With guys who all they're in there for is shooting. And if the shot, the first one or two doesn't fall, he's not going to give them the free time to keep shooting and work themselves out of it, right? And that would be the worry here. And I do think that is a valid criticism here of know your coach. And it felt like last off season, KU did a much better job of understanding Bill Self guys. and finding those in the portal.

And this would be very much not in that vicinity. But again, you get to a point where it's like, okay, but some of those guys were coming in under the guys of they might be starters for Kansas. And so it was disappointing when they weren't, like when Nick Timberlake's coming off the bench, for instance. If you're bringing in Obdi Bashir under the guys the whole way through of, hey, you're going to be a bench player, then maybe you don't have to worry about that.

So I can see the argument kind of both ways. The other thing that I'm getting tired of, and this is just, again, like I'm kind of sitting in the middle here. So whatever, I'm sitting on the fence. But like the thing that is I'm starting to get really annoyed with. So I, I don't know, whatever. The Dan Hurley quote that came out early season about like,

I'm just trying to get like good offensive players and I can't teach them the offense. I'll teach them the defense. And that is getting overused so much now because it's just basically like if I don't think Dan Hurley's intention of that was to be like, yeah, I don't care if he's the worst defender in the country. We'll still take him if he's good at offense. His intention was more so, hey, if I have the choice between a good offensive player who's a below average defensive player or a good defensive player who's a below average, I don't think his intention with that quote was to say, hey, if I can bring on, because then why wouldn't he bring in a him this year was to be like, yeah,

I'm just going to worry about the offense. And even if he's the worst defender in the country, I'll take him. Like, I think people are taking that quote a little bit too far what it was meant to be. All that said, if the price is right and the role is right, which I think the role to me is if Bashir is comfortable being the, you know, eighth man for Kansas or whatever, where he's playing 10, 12, maybe 15 minutes a game and maybe it's more if you're, you know, on fire from three. I'm totally cool with that, especially at cost. Like I said, I lean Miller and I get the hesitations one way.

or another. Like I said earlier, though, I'm just happy they got Taryn Stokes. And if they get either one, I think that can be a good bench edition for KU. But obviously, either one also comes with, I think, a lot of risks. And that's partially why I think the argument between the two is also a little silly because it's like these are two very flawed players. All right, that'll do 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.