Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Offseason Center/Bigs Breakdown + Transfer Portal Targets

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

Kansas Jayhawks basketball center/power forward/bigs/big man preview for KU as we await decisions from Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams, Zach Clemence, lose Parker Braun and gain Flory Bidunga from the McDo...nald's All-American game. What Bill Self could look to add in the transfer portal and with offseason moves based on the decisions and targets like Cliff Omoruyi, Maxime Reynaud, Brandon Garrison and more. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! RobinhoodRobinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer. Amazon Fire TVFire TV recently created Fire TV Channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, all for free. That includes all of us at Locked On and most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. To Learn More, visit www.amazon.com/LockedOnFireTV LinkedInThese days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/lockedoncollege. Terms and conditions apply. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGEfor $20 off your first purchase. FanDuelNew customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. 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) 

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Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, where are things at with the Kansas Bigs and who are some offseason targets that they could look at at the center and power forward position? 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. Give me a follow on Twitter at DJohnsonRadio. You can reach out to me there if you have any questions or comments with the show. Thanks for making Locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day. We are free and available anywhere you get your podcasts,
Starting point is 00:00:38 including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. On today's edition of Locked on Jayhawks, we're taking inventory of the big position for KU and looking at off-season targets that KU could possibly go after, whether it's the transfer portal or freshman. They're going to be transfer portal guys. But I think this is a very interesting position in general for KU because there is a lot that just banks on,
Starting point is 00:01:01 are guys coming back or are they not? Whereas it's like, well, even if Johnny Furphy comes back you could still add another wing even if you know this guy like even with DeJuan Harris coming back you can still add another guard and you added Riley Kugel who can be kind of a two or three whatever it is but like with big position it is going to be very dependent on what happens with Hunter Dickinson so it started there we're going to go real quick before we get into the offseason targets here just a few minutes before we get to that um what is Kansas bringing back at the position specifically to set them up for what they could be looking for in the offseason?
Starting point is 00:01:29 Well, we know for sure Parker Brown is gone. He has graduated. He has exhausted his eligibility. You know you are adding Flory Badunga, who is undergoing the McDonald's All-American game right now. He'll be an incoming freshman and has like a 7'4 wingspan, like 6'8", 6'9", jumps out of the gym. Really good athlete with an insanely high motor. Honestly, if you look back at the recruiting profiles and the similar height and long wingspan, kind of a lot of similarities
Starting point is 00:01:54 between Flory Badunga and what you had with Shaq Diallo. Now I know that maybe sound like, sounds like a bit of a scare, like, oh, what does that mean? Cause Shaq Diallo didn't do a ton of Kansas, but think about it this way. If Shaq Diallo didn't have the NCAA stuff would he have stayed for year two or maybe even a year three at Kansas and he was like a early second round pick or maybe even like first round pick had a long career in the NBA I feel like if Sheck Diallo would have been at Kansas for two or three years he would have been an absolute stud by year two or year three and that's kind of how I view Floyd Badunga. Like if he comes in this year and he might be the backup center, he might be the third string center this year, depending on what happens
Starting point is 00:02:30 in the off season for KU. You know, he might play 10 minutes a game. He might play 15 minutes, whatever it is. He could be somebody who becomes an absolute star by year two, year three, if that is in the cards for everything. So I don't think that's a bad thing at all, but I do think there are some similarities there. Obviously you hope for even more to kind of hit the ground running right away since check the yellow didn't really crack the rotation year one. Then you have the guys who can come back KJ Adams. Technically he can be a wing, but the way I view it,
Starting point is 00:02:58 he's more of a four, five man. And I think it would probably behoove Kansas most if he is playing more five than he is playing at the four and if you want to play him you know 10 minutes at the four and then 15 minutes of five or five minutes of the four and 20 minutes of the five again depends kind of who's back and everything like that but I think that would be better for Kansas Hunter Dickinson could come back for a super senior season because his first year was the kind of COVID year where he gets the extra year and that's kind of the big one that is the crux of all this. And it's really hard to kind of go through what targets they'd be going to
Starting point is 00:03:27 in the different tiers until we know that. And then you have Zach Clements who took a redshirt year. So he was going to transfer to UC Santa Barbara, never went on campus, just decided he didn't really want to do that. So he talked to Bill Self and decided to come back and redshirt this year. KU was looking for more practice bodies because they were a thinner team. And they decided to say, hey, this will give good reps for Hunter Dickinson in practice. We need the practice body, you redshirt, and then we can get some extra tape for you to send out to other coaches if you want
Starting point is 00:03:53 to transfer again. I know that was mentioned in like the Kansas City Star article that like his mom talked to the Kansas City Star and said that like, yeah, we can enter back into the portal the next year. So that could be something or maybe Kansas, you know, likes what they saw and he can come back and maybe have a role on the team. I don't know whatever ends up happening, but he can decide to come back or transfer again, depending what he wants to do. The one obviously, you know, that is going to have the biggest ripple effects on all this obviously is the Hunter Dickinson stuff.
Starting point is 00:04:20 But I mean, like if KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson both return with Flory Badunga coming in, are you playing the same way or are you switching things up a little bit? Or like I said, now you're, you know, having KJ Adams come off the bench or I don't know. We just don't see Bill Self demote guys from the starting lineups that often. We don't see very often the guys even play less minutes than the year before. So it's like it's definitely possible, but it's just not something we see a ton of from him. So it's going to be very interesting how that all works. And then if you do have like Hunter Dickinson back,
Starting point is 00:04:53 are you content with just saying, Hey, we're good with Hunter Dickinson and Flory Badunga. Like if we add another big man, it's just going to be like a body, basically a Parker Brown type where it's like, if that's our third string center, we only plan on him playing if there's like foul trouble or this guy's injured or something like that. Because, you know, what really good big man are you going to get to sign up to be a third big, you know what I mean? So I think that kind of becomes interesting in how you approach this,
Starting point is 00:05:15 or maybe that guy can just be Zach Clements. Maybe you say, hey, if we have Hunter Dickinson, Floyd Badunga, Zach Clements, and that's our rotation at the five, you know, KJ Adams could be in there. Like we're content with what we have on the roster. So this is one of those where like at the end of the day, they're going to add another wing. They're going to add probably another guard. There is a real world scenario where if all these guys just say, I'm coming back, you don't even have to add another center or another big man.
Starting point is 00:05:38 So this one kind of depends, but the type of player you're looking for is this. If Hunter Dickinson goes, you could be looking for just another center right and just a starting level center if hunter dickinson comes back maybe you're looking for somebody who can play the four and stretch the floor a little bit and can shoot um maybe you're just looking for a backup big man but um i i think uh if you are gonna bring like kj adams back and let's say Hunter Dickinson goes and Bill Self says, I want to play KJ at the four still. Then you're looking for like a big man who is kind of an athletic five who can shoot it a little bit. So it really does depend what you're trying to do and what type of player you're going at. Let's talk about some of the different players that are available to KU in the transfer portal right now at the big position.
Starting point is 00:06:21 And who are some offseason targets for the Jayhawks in just a moment. When you're hiring for small businesses, you want to find quality professionals that are right for their role. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs has the tools to help you find the right professionals for your team faster and for free. LinkedIn isn't just another job board. They have a vast network of more than a billion professionals, which makes it the best place to hire. Gives you access to professionals you can't find anywhere else. LinkedIn does all that while making the process easy and intuitive. Hiring is easy when you have that many quality candidates. So easy, in fact, that 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours.
Starting point is 00:06:59 LinkedIn knows that small businesses are wearing so many hats, and right now might not have the time or resources to hire. Post job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on college that is linkedin.com slash locked on college post job for free terms and conditions apply all right our off-season targets reminder we have four different tiers tier one is somebody who we view to be not just an immediate starter but would be be like right away, they'd be an all league projected player. Tier two is these are players that are probably starters and yeah, they could develop into being that all league type of player. Tier three is possibly a starter. I think in the case of the big man position depends on what's going to happen with Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams. At the very least, they're a player that
Starting point is 00:07:42 you would bring in and expect to be a part of the rotation, even if they would be a backup. Then you have tier four, which is like definitive bench player. That could be in a couple of ways. That could be as a developmental player, or that could be as a player who you bring in where it's like the idea is like Parker Brown was a tier four. The idea was that he's going to be, you know, he played minutes. He was a part of the rotation, but he was a bench player, right? So there's different tiers that we're going to kind of go through this with. And there can actually be like tier four players who might actually be better than a tier three player, for instance, just how I sorted this, that makes a better fit for Kansas. But we'll get into that in a moment.
Starting point is 00:08:16 Let's start with tier one. These are immediate starters, all league type players. This would only happen if Hunter Dickinson leaves. So if Hunter Dickinson leaves and Bill Self says, you know, I don't want to play. I don't want my center position to just be KJ Adams, Floyd Badunga, and possibly Zach Clements. And he says, I want to go out there and get a immediate impact center transfer to fill the shoes left by Hunter Dickinson. Should he go? These are those players you're looking at.
Starting point is 00:08:42 I think number one is Cliff Omorui. He is a six foot 11 center from Rutgers, played four years there. He has one year left, 10.5 points per game, over eight rebounds per game this past season, and three blocks per game. He shot over 51% from the floor, took a few three-pointers, didn't really hit them consistently, though, at 20%, but that's not really his game.
Starting point is 00:09:02 What was interesting, though, Rutgers wasn't as good this year. Last year, they were a better team. They had a couple other players, like Cam Spencer, who's now on UConn, and they were, I think, the first team out of the tournament. And that year, when he had better floor spacing around him, better guards around him,
Starting point is 00:09:14 he put up over 13 points per game and nine and a half rebounds per game. But this dude is mostly about his defense. If you're bringing on Cliff O'Marui, he's a good, like, rim roller and a good dunker, but he's not like a high usage center. He's not going to be somebody who you throw to on the block a bunch and he scores with regularity on the post. He's going to, you know, which actually could be fine because you're throwing
Starting point is 00:09:33 down lob dunks from DeJuan Harris. And if you have the right spacing around him, he's going to get some dunks in the offense, but great rebounder. He had 11 games this year with four more blocks, including eight blocks against Wisconsin and eight blocks against Illinois. This is one of the best defensive big men in the country. So this would be a bit of a shift. If you're Bill Self and you see how the Gonzaga game went, you're probably licking your chops to go, hey, if Hunter Dickinson does leave, let's get a center first big man or a defensive first big man. And then if we get a defensive first big man, we can just fill it with offensive players around him and DeJuan. DeJuan and him can be really good defensive tandem, and we just have really good offensive players two through four
Starting point is 00:10:10 that carry us on that end. I think that is a very appealing lineup construction. But he was 88th and 89th percentile defensively the last two years, 57th percentile, so still at least above average in post-ups, 86th in pick and roll, and 77th at the rim. He has heard from Kansas, and supposedly Kansas is setting up like a zoom call and doing some other stuff. The other tier one guys, Maxime Raynaud, seven foot one from Stanford, three years there. He has one year left.
Starting point is 00:10:33 This is kind of opposite from Omar Rui. This would almost be a little bit more like a Hunter Dickinson pickup, but not as high profile. Raynaud 15 and a half points, 9.6 rebounds, good passer to assist per game. 57% from the floor, takes about two threes per game at 36%. And he's a pretty mobile big. He actually had 29 points at Arizona this year. And he's like, I would say, a slightly bouncier, not as strong version of Hunter Dickinson, because very good handedness and on the block and everything. He actually had
Starting point is 00:11:04 37 dunks this year. Hunter Dickinson was second on KU with 17. So a little bit more springy. And that allows him to be a little bit more mobile on the defensive end. So actually a little higher potential on that end, but he's not as dominant on the block and also was on a worse team with Stanford. Although Hunter Dickinson didn't have a great team last year at Michigan, but he would be a nice addition.
Starting point is 00:11:24 Omar Rui more for the defense. Raynaud would be more for the offense if you lose Hunter Dickinson. And then this one just happened today. Vladislav Golden is a seven foot one center, three years of Florida Atlantic, one year of Texas Tech. He has one year left, 15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 67% from the floor. This would be your best like back to the basket post score. Raynaud is a little bit of an everything score Golden would be your best back to the basket score uh Golden
Starting point is 00:11:49 the better rim protector than Raynaud not as good as Omar Rui uh you could argue Raynaud though is probably the more mobile defender for covering like pick and rolls and stuff and so much so Raynaud was 58th percentile defensively Raynaud was also 89th percentile post up and 90th in catch and shoot opportunities Golden was only 26th percentile defensively. Raynaud was also 89th percentile post-up and 90th in catch and shoot opportunities. Golden was only 26th percentile defensively, so it was not good on defenses here for FAU, but the year before he was in the 88th percentile. So I don't know what that means. He's not really a pick and roll big man, but he was in the 83rd percentile in post-up offense with a lot of attempts that they kind of fed him the ball. That would be another guy you kind of go to. But if I'm choosing here, I would choose Cliff O'Marui should Hunter Dickinson go.
Starting point is 00:12:28 But that's if Hunter Dickinson goes, maybe Hunter Dickinson comes back and none of those guys are really at play. What about tier two? These guys are probably a starter. I think it probably means they lost Hunter Dickinson, but there is a world where they could bring this guy on when maybe that's not the case. I originally was going to have Brandon Huntley Hatfield on here,
Starting point is 00:12:45 but he narrowed down his list of four kids and wasn't on it, so no need to talk more than that about it. Brandon Garrison is the one guy I have on here on Tier 2. 6'11 from Oklahoma State. Only played one year with the Cowboys, so he has three years left to play, and that's kind of a boon that even if he wouldn't end up being a start, let's say you bring on Brandon Garrison and you decide we're going to start KJ at the five five and then we'll have our backup bigs be Garrison and Florida, but Dunga, that would be a really good center rotation in my opinion. And you would still have multiple years left with Garrison where it's like,
Starting point is 00:13:13 okay, and then you'll be the starter the next year, or it'll be Florida Dunga or whoever wins that competition. Or it is a possibility that if a hundred Digginson goes, Garrison could come in and be the starter right away at center seven and a half points per game, over five rebounds, one and a half assists, seven and a half points per game over five rebounds one and a half assists one and a half blocks per game 57 from the floor he actually had an offer from ku in high school when he was a top 50 recruit according to 24-7 sports plays with good awareness he's a good defensive player one and a half blocks per game he's not like a crazy athlete but he seems to know where to be and was a good rim protector he was overall
Starting point is 00:13:42 74th percentile defensively on synergy. Now, he wasn't a good post-up player, 10th percentile in post-ups. But you get him with Bill Self, who typically teaches that stuff well. And year two for a guy who's a top 50 recruit, I bet you that gets a little bit better. He was 76th in pick and roll as the role man. That would work well with DeJuan Harris, 89th percentile in transition, so he did run the floor well or knew where to go. Only 17th in jump shooting. So this would be a guy who would be kind of a high upside play
Starting point is 00:14:08 where you would be expecting him to grow into more, and I think would be a nice pickup for KU. But again, if Hunter Dickinson comes back and you're Brandon Garrison, now if KU can pull off this swoon and they go, hey, we got Hunter Dickinson back and we added Brandon Garrison, that is a hell of a center rotation with Dickinson, Garrison, and Badunga at that point if you use KJ at the five. But if you're Garrison from his point of view, do you go, hey, why would I come there to, you know, come off the bench after I was like a full-time starter?
Starting point is 00:14:39 And yes, you could say, oh, but you could be the starter two years after that. Well, that's no guarantee either because Flory Badunga is the number one center coming in from the class. And what if he's in front of me the next year as a starter? And then all of a sudden I've wasted two years away. So I don't know what the likelihood of that one is unless Hunter goes, but still certainly one to keep an eye on.
Starting point is 00:14:56 And I think he's a good player. All right, let's get on to our tier three and tier four in just a moment here with Locked on Jayhawks. Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle
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Starting point is 00:15:42 Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit. Only available to U.S. customers. Let's finish up with Tier 3 and Tier 4. Thank you to the everydayers tuning in to this episode. Our past episodes, we talked a lot about Riley Kugel committing to KU, did a deep dive, and then we had our commitment one that kind of worked out with the timing of all that. We're going to actually do a deep dive on Zeke Mayo,
Starting point is 00:16:03 who I believe is scheduled to visit KU. I guess this episode is coming out on Tuesday today, and we'll go a little bit more into how he would fit with KU on tomorrow's episode of the show. We'll also keep you updated with the rest of the Transfer Portal stuff. This Friday, we're going to try to do some Football Friday stuff moving forward where we'll talk a little spring football and off-season football for KU on our Fridays here with Locked on Jayhawks.
Starting point is 00:16:24 So make sure you're subscribed anywhere you get podcasts. All right. Tier three is this is somebody who is still a possible starter, depending on what happens with Hunter and KJ. But at the very least, this should be a rotation piece. Still probably likely a backup with both or one of them back. The first one here is Jacoby Coles. He is a 6'8 power forward, but did play some five-man for TCU this past year.
Starting point is 00:16:48 Started his career at Butler. He has one year left to play. 10 points, four rebounds per game, 49% from the floor. He is a stretch 4'5". 42% from three on over two attempts per game. I thought he should have shot more. He had 19 points in their NCAA tournament loss to Utah State. He actually played at the prep level with Jalen Wilson. So I don't know if there's some sort of relationship there that can
Starting point is 00:17:09 make it work. I don't know what the fit is for KU, but if you're saying you have a, let's say you get Hunter and KJ back and you have a big man off the bench who can come in and give you 15 solid minutes who's experienced and shoot threes off the bench, that's not the worst thing in the world. But he was also 70th percentile defensively. He was 95th percentile in spot up shooting and 97th percentile in unguarded catch and shoot also 74th and post-ups. He's a very skilled offensive player on selfish. He passes the ball. He's somebody who will,
Starting point is 00:17:38 I think add to a winning environment, wherever he goes. Malik Dia is a six foot nine kind of forward type. It's like 240 pounds from Belmont. One year at Vanderbilt. So, you know, he has that, you know, power six level in him before he went to Belmont. Two years left to play. 17 points, about six rebounds per game, 49% from the floor, 34 from three on almost four attempts per game. He went off against Drake, 32 points. He also had 21 points against a good Arizona team. And, you know, he can kind of play that four or a smaller five as well.
Starting point is 00:18:08 52nd percentile in defense, which playing in the Missouri Valley, you know, that's going to go down a little bit more. He was pretty good in post-up, 60th percentile, 62nd in catch and shoot, 59th in spot-up. So just kind of above average in a lot of different things. I guess I wanted to keep an eye on there. William Kyle III, he is a 6'9 big man from South Dakota State. That's where he was for two years. Really, really good athlete. He has two years left to play, over 13 points per
Starting point is 00:18:32 game, 6.6 rebounds per game. Honestly, with how good of an athlete he is, I was surprised it wasn't even more rebounds in that conference. But 1.6 blocks per game, over 62% from the floor, doesn't really shoot it. But he played really well in the tournament game. 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting. He had seven rebounds, and he had four assists against, obviously, an Iowa State defense that's one of the best in the country. And he's a power athlete, too. He's not just like a quick athlete.
Starting point is 00:18:56 He does need a little bit of time to load up, but when he does, kind of a two-feet jumper, he's got a huge vertical. He throws down some power dunks, gets some power ironically enough because i think he won like summit league defensive player of the year synergy didn't like him he was only 36th percentile in defense on synergy now there are obviously you know some things you have to take a grain of salt with um some of it can be like okay if you're playing a drop coverage and this guy shoots a mid-range shot like does that get credited to the guard does that get credited to the guard? Does that get credited to the big man?
Starting point is 00:19:26 There are certain things that can go into that that can hurt or help a player's synergy rating or something in some of this stuff, but I did find that curious. He was 95th percentile in cutting, which makes sense, with his athleticism 63rd in post-up. He has heard from Kansas, according to Mike Sautter of Herd Hat Sports, and he would be someone where if he's coming off the bench for you and one of your bench big men and then can develop
Starting point is 00:19:48 because he has two more years left to play too, I think you would feel like you're a very athletic team overall. Sam Alexis is a 6'9 big man from Chattanooga, two years left to play, 11 points, nine rebounds per game, over two blocks. This would be more of your classic big man who's just like rim runner, good rebounder, defender off the bench to give you hard, minutes played well against Auburn 13.6 rebounds three blocks played well against Louisville 16 points 11 rebounds four blocks in a couple of their power five games he was in the 78th percentile defensively and he was in the 82nd percentile
Starting point is 00:20:18 in post-ups not a great catch and shoot shooter and he took a lot of them 54 of them only shot 28 there so you'd like to see that number go up. But there are a lot of things to like about Alexis if he was like in that Tariq Black kind of role for KU, even though Black ended up starting for a lot of the season over Joel Embiid. I don't mean it in that way, but kind of what Tariq Black was by the time Joel Embiid had emerged. Brandon Angel is a six-foot-eight big man from Stanford. This one would kind of go back in line with like Jacoby Coles. If you want more of a stretch big man, he shot 45 percent from three on two and a half attempts per game
Starting point is 00:20:49 also 240 pounds though like this is one where it's like okay if Hunter Dickinson's gone you could add Brandon Angel and like offensively KJ Adams is the five and Angel is the four because he can really shoot the ball and then defensively you can use Angel as the five and KJ Adams as the four. And you can kind of invert it that way because Angel wasn't a great defender, but he was 85th percentile in spot-up shooting, 96th percentile in post-ups, and he was in the 97th percentile in jump shooting,
Starting point is 00:21:15 94th in catch and shoot. Bit of a smaller sample size in terms of some of the shooting, because again, two and a half, three point attempts a game isn't like six a game, but still 13 points for him. That would be a nice pickup again, if and a half, three-point attempts a game isn't like six a game. But still, 13 points for him, like that would be a nice pickup again if you lose Hunter Dickinson and you can kind of play him off of K.J. Adams. And then Amari Williams is our last one here in Tier 3, 6'10", big man from Drexel,
Starting point is 00:21:33 one year left, over 12 points, about eight rebounds per game. He only ranked in the 13th percentile defensively on Synergy. I do think he's a little bit better than that, but really good rim runner, 95th percentile in transition, good offensive rebounder, rebounds the ball hard. And he was actually the CAA defensive player of the year with a 7'5 wingspan. I don't know that he plays well in ball screens and stuff, but he's a really good rim protector, I think at the very least. Then our tier four is bench players. This one will go a little faster. Ben Humricus, I don't know if that's the right way to pronounce it former NAIA guy he went to Evansville averaged about 15 a game over 41%
Starting point is 00:22:09 from three on a five and a half three point attempts per game he's a really good offensive player more than defense at six foot nine uh Farrell Payne at six foot nine from Minnesota two years left to play 10 points six rebounds really good athlete uh 255 pounds but he moves well defensive rating didn't grade out well but the athleticism says that the potential is there for him to do that and he was really good at cutting and as a pick and roll role man then you have andrew morgan six foot ten from north dakota state 13 points five rebounds uh he's a skilled on the block type of big man but he didn't play well against some of the power opponents he He had eight points, three rebounds on four or five against KU in the 2022 to 23 season. Didn't grade out well defensively
Starting point is 00:22:49 on a synergy this year, only 28th percentile, but 82nd percent down post up. He would be kind of the Mitch Lightfoot off the bench though. Mitch was a better rim protector than Andrew Morgan is, but the, basically the guy you can bring off the bench and be like, okay, we feel confident giving him the ball on the block as a bench big. And he can play, you know, if he's willing to do that. Cause he just was a starter for three years at North Dakota state and let him, you know, play 10, 15 minutes a game or whatever and have him hit a couple of hook shots. Kenny Poto from Wichita state. This would more so be your like big body kind of bruiser down low 9.6 rebounds per game. And he was in the 57th percentile post-up, good offensive rebounder. Michael Inwoko, more of the developmental big, 6'10 from Miami,
Starting point is 00:23:30 was a near top 100 recruit. He's got length at 6'10, played a little bit for Miami. And then Dennis Evans is another interesting one because KU had interest in him in high school. 7'1 center from Louisville, has three years left to play, only averaged 1.6 points per game. He played seven games. He started five of them as a freshman from Louisville has three years left to play only averaged 1.6 points per game he played seven games he started five of them as a freshman for Louisville former really highly recruited guy but then he was told he was not medically cleared not just for the rest of
Starting point is 00:23:54 the season but for the foreseeable future and moving forward for the Louisville program so they just told him like hey you're not going to be able to ever play for us so I don't know what that means like what the heck does that mean with the shoulder injury? Like, how bad is that shoulder? But maybe it's one worth kicking the tires on, developmental big, because maybe that makes more sense. If you have Hunter Dickinson back and KJ Adams back and Floyd Badunga coming in, maybe it makes more sense to bring in a developmental guy
Starting point is 00:24:17 that you can kind of bring along as well. I don't know. But there are some options that you can look into, and certainly that list will grow based on guys that we don't even have on there that maybe KU is interested in and will certainly offer or guys who have yet to even enter the portal altogether. And if that happens, we'll update you on them, and we'll get to those as we go. Talk about Zeke Mayo on tomorrow's show. You're not going to want to miss it.
Starting point is 00:24:36 Make sure you subscribe to the show anywhere you get podcasts, including on our YouTube page. See you next time with LOJ.

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