Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Season-Ends to Arkansas Razorbacks on Late-Game Collapse Filled with Turnovers: What Went Wrong This Season

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Kansas Jayhawks basketball faces a tough reality after a shocking NCAA tournament exit against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Despite being the most experienced team, the Jayhawks faltered in the final minu...tes, raising questions about their late-game strategy and future prospects.Host Derek Johnson dissects the game, spotlighting standout performances from Zeke Mayo and KJ Adams, while critiquing Hunter Dickinson's second-half struggles. The discussion shifts to the potential roster overhaul, with names like Darren Peterson and Bill Self's transfer portal strategy taking center stage. Could a complete reset be the answer for Kansas basketball?Explore the intricate dynamics of the Jayhawks' season and the challenges ahead. Tune in for a deep dive into Kansas basketball's path forward.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!NissanTake your adventures to new heights in the All-New Nissan Armada PRO-4X. Learn more at NissanUSA.com.Disclaimers: Optional features. Towing capacity varies by configuration. See Nissan Towing Guide and Owner’s Manual for additional information. Always secure cargo.Supply HouseJoin the Trade Master program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code SH5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com!FabricJoin the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their families. Apply today in just minutes at MEETFABRIC.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. 5-Hour ENERGYHead to 5-hourENERGY.com to find over 15 flavors to choose from, including Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Peach-Mango. Need one now? Grab a 5-hour ENERGY shot at your local grocery or convenience store—they’re everywhere! Stock up today and stay energized.UpworkVisit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free to connect with top talent and grow your business today!FactorLooking to optimize your nutrition this year? Eat smart with Factor. Get started at FACTOR MEALS.com/FACTORPODCAST and use code FACTORPODCAST to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGEfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.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)

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Maybe a fitting end as it gets for KU Basketball. Another late game collapse, another one to Arkansas in the NCAA tournament, and this disaster of a season is officially over. 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 here. This is Locked On Jayhawks, a sad Locked On Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Thank you to the every dayers catching each and every show
Starting point is 00:00:37 where you're free and available anywhere you get podcasts, including on our YouTube page, where you can like and subscribe to the show. And on today's edition of Locked On Jayhawks, we're discussing another late game collapse, way too many of them this season for KU, another one that occurs against Arkansas in the NCAA tournament. Bill Self has now seen his 17 game first round win streak
Starting point is 00:00:56 snapped, and the nightmare season is officially over. So we're going to get into the game. We're also going to get into a little offseason talk because I think people are ready to turn the page and hoping that next season will be a little bit better. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by 5-Hour Energy. Head to 5hourenergy.com to find over 15 flavors to choose from. Need one now? I probably do. You grab a 5-Hour Energy shot at your local grocery or convenience store, stock up today and stay energized with 5-Hour Energy.
Starting point is 00:01:24 Arkansas moves on 79-72 over Kansas in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Jay Hawks finished season with 13 losses. And this was a game that Kansas had no business. I mean, losing by seven, you're up 67, 64 for it feels like, I don't know, four or five possessions down the court and you can't extend the lead. And then when you get down, you still can't score to come back into the game. Just a horrible end to the game for KU. And how many times this season have we seen that happen for KU?
Starting point is 00:01:51 This almost felt the most fitting way for them to lose this type of game. You think of the Houston game where you blow that one twice. You think of the Texas Tech game at home. You think of even a little bit the Arizona game, even the UCF game in the Big 12 tournament that you won. And there are countless others, right? There's too many to remember. even a little bit the Arizona game, even the UCF game in the Big 12 tournament that you won. And there are countless others, right? There's too many to remember.
Starting point is 00:02:08 That's the problem, so many difficult. And that's the weird thing. Like if this was that 05 or 06 Kansas team that was filled with a bunch of like freshmen and sophomores, you know, you can understand it. It would be the growing process that's gonna lead to something really exciting. This was the most experienced team in the country It would be the growing process that's going to lead to something really exciting.
Starting point is 00:02:25 This was the most experienced team in the country and not once this season did it feel like that was the case. They struggled on the road, they struggled in key moments, they struggled to overcome adversity and momentum. This was a team that did not play like a veteran roster. They did not play like a veteran team, they did not play like an experienced team and that once again came back to haunt you in this game. And it feels even worse that you were in kind of a similar situation.
Starting point is 00:02:48 Last time you played Arkansas, obviously different roster, but that being the second round a couple of years ago, where you had a little bit of a lead in a close game late, and then you just couldn't execute down the stretch. This one occurs and it is a little bit more of a, okay, that kind of makes sense. And it's a shame because, you know, we talked in the pregame, we said,
Starting point is 00:03:07 this could be a game that Kansas could go zone and it would make sense. And they did, and it shut down Arkansas in the second half. Kansas could not stop a high school team in the first half. Arkansas was doing whatever they wanted to Kansas on the offensive end in the first half. That was a big problem in the first half, but you solved it in the second half by playing zone.
Starting point is 00:03:25 And then you just could not stop turning the ball over and you got nothing from Hunter Dickinson in the second half. I mean, Kansas for the game shoots eight of 17 from three, Arkansas goes six of 24. You would have gladly taken that coming into this game. Yeah, Arkansas shot really well at the free throw line, but so did Kansas on high volume.
Starting point is 00:03:42 Kansas actually won the rebound battle by four with one less offensive rebound. Kansas at 18 assists, but the big difference in this game, 16 turnovers for Kansas, 10 for Arkansas. And that was a number that was really close until the final four minutes of the game. And in the end, Arkansas is an 11 to five steal advantage. What we talked about in the pregame, Arkansas scores a lot of points off transition. You have to take care of the basketball.
Starting point is 00:04:03 And that ended up leading to a two point advantage in points off turnovers for Arkansas which you know we really were the more important points of the game and so you look at this second half I feel for Zeke Mayo who was awesome for Kansas down the stretch of this season the big 12th tournament and in this game 18 points six rebounds two assists two seals four five from three he showed up in the big moment and did everything you needed for him to get a win. And if they do pass this, you know, you can play for a fifth year in the NCAA rule. I hope Zeke Mayo comes back and I
Starting point is 00:04:33 hope we get to see him for another season. If not, I appreciate the one season he had. It sucks for me that he was the one season he happened to be at Kansas was this season for Kansas. KJ Adams sucks to see that the way that he went down and out and we'll see what that injury is post game. You hope he's okay for the future of his basketball career, whatever that ends up being. I don't know if he'll be one of those players that converts to like football or something, but you know, he gave you 13 points and just sucks to see there. DeJuan Harris, I think I and many others were getting ready to about I don't know what 25 minutes 30 minutes of game time into that one to be like, like, you can't go out like this. And to his credit, he showed up over the last 15 minutes of the game, albeit, you know, part of the steals, two turnovers. My biggest takeaway was when they were playing the zone,
Starting point is 00:05:25 he was causing chaos at the top, getting deflections and steals. If DeJuan Harris would have went to Syracuse with Jim Bayhunt, he would average like three, four steals per game. But it was a slow start for DeJuan. And unfortunately, that's the difference. It's the slow start for DeJuan with the slow finish for Hunter Dickinson, right?
Starting point is 00:05:42 It basically equaled itself out that when one guy got going, the other couldn't get going. They couldn't sync up. And Hunter had a good first half. He still finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists, but he was a problem in the second half. I mean, I don't know what the Boxer
Starting point is 00:05:56 or plus minus is going to end up in this game for him, but that big run that Kansas went on that put him up three, that was when Hunter was on the bench. This was a bad matchup for him and he did not play well. He went four of 13. I don't know why he's shooting it. Kansas down four near the end of the game and Hunter Dickinson is taking the three.
Starting point is 00:06:12 That's not the shot you want in that situation. He had way too many bad turnovers. I believe he had two of the ones down the stretch when Kansas was having trouble. And I think that's, it's just, it's something where Hunter Dickinson had some big games in big games over the course of his career. Like I think of some of the champions classic games he had where he had 20 points and 15 rebounds against John Calipari in Arkansas. I think he had 27 and 21 his first year with Kansas.
Starting point is 00:06:43 But too many times in hostile environments, in road environments, or when you really need him to step up, he did not. And that's where some of the empty calories of the scoring. You think of a guy like Ines Kanter, who you look at back at his stats are Hassan Whiteside in the NBA.
Starting point is 00:06:59 You look at their stats and you're like, oh, those dudes were like locking double doubles. Why did they get forced out of the NBA? Well, it's because of certain things on defense and you know, that sometimes the stats weren't indicative of the impact. And I think that'll be the legacy left by Dickinson. I still think he was a good player for KU, but it's a little bit in the same vein of Dietrich Lawson, where there was never team success around it. And in the case of Dickinson, he had two years to get a chance to do it. Um, and this is a really bad finish for Dickinson. And it's only going to feel worse because he is on a billion commercials that
Starting point is 00:07:30 are going on dirt and during March madness. Then who would have thought that, I mean, the Ryland Griffin slump continued his three, but who would have thought that AJ store would give you 15 points and again, you would lose. And so I do feel good for AJ Store that he finished that way, but I also feel bad because two of his last three games were really good games for KU and now he's probably going to poof off into the transfer portal. So it's not like you're going to be able to capture this momentum and be like,
Starting point is 00:07:56 okay, we're finally getting there with AJ Store and now we're going to reap the benefits next year. That probably ain't happening. I did like that you got Shaquille Moore back in this game, but you know, Arkansas was too hot to start the game. And maybe that's part of it too, that if Kansas plays better defense in the first half, maybe they're not in that situation at the end of the game where they have to execute better down the stretch. I mean, Trevon Brazil really got going and he was an offensive rebounding problem against the KU defense. That was another thing. Hunter was giving up a lot of offensive rebounds in there. Jonas Adoo will probably have like four points next game, but he was great in this one.
Starting point is 00:08:29 John L. Davis always plays well in the NCAA tournament, knew that would happen. DJ Wagner gave him real contributions. This was just the classic game where, yeah, Kansas just blew it down the stretch and didn't execute, which is so weird. Because typically when you think of Bills South basketball teams, you think of them being able to execute and it sucks because they were Because typically when you think of BSD teams, you think of them being able to execute. And it sucks because they were down, like you get down by that big amount to start the second half, you're down double digits,
Starting point is 00:08:51 you're down 55-44, you go on that big run, you crawl all the way back, you come back in front 67-64, and you're up 67-64 with 4.55 to go in the game. You don't score again until, let's see, 123 when AJ Storm makes those free throws. You don't score a made field goal till that late Ryland Griffin three that makes it 75-72 when at that point, like, you know, you kind of need a miracle to happen and it clearly doesn't.
Starting point is 00:09:21 I mean, infuriating that you like, you yo-yo your way back in front and then it kind of goes away. And part of that collapse happened when KJ was off the floor, which I think those two things maybe a little correlated because I do think it almost felt like KJ was the most calm, was the most calming presence among the experienced players
Starting point is 00:09:41 who struggled with experience, I guess, so to speak. But these are the possessions for KU after they got up 67-64. Turnover. Let's see. Missed jumper. Turnover. Turnover. Turnover. Turnover. And then some substitutions turnover. Missed three by Hunter Dickinson. That was your run of play before you ended up getting like the Rylan Griffin three with some AJ store free throws mixed in there. Just a bad way to end the season in what was a very bad season for KU.
Starting point is 00:10:21 Do we want to get to game awards? I don't know. Maybe we'll just get straight into offseason talk because like, what awards you want me to talk about? Kansas just lost in the NCAA tournament first round. You know, Kansas hasn't made a second weekend since 2018. Kansas lost 13 games this season. Deke Mayo played well. There's your game award. I what what has to happen from here? This is locked on Jay
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Starting point is 00:12:11 including watermelon, blue raspberry, and peach mango. You can even build your own 12-pack or 24-pack delivered right to your door. Need one now? Grab a 5hour Energy shot at your local grocery or convenience store. They're everywhere. Stock up today and stay energized with five hour energy. Continuing on thanks for making locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day. We will have an episode that comes out probably sometime this weekend that will just be an offseason
Starting point is 00:12:36 primer for KU so we'll get more into the offseason so stick around for that right here with locked on Jayhawks. The biggest thing in town now turns attention to the weekend is this like whatever it is a basketball event going on that has Darren Peterson playing in the semi finals at Haskell and if they're in the finals on Sunday could possibly be against AJ DeBonse. That's on Sunday night, that thing is going to be sold out and KU fans are going to already be wanting to buy their Darren
Starting point is 00:13:03 Peterson jerseys and that is the one hope of all this that a Darren Peterson is committed to KU when are going to already be wanting to buy their Darren Peterson jerseys. And that is the one hope of all this that a Darren Peterson is committed to KU when can he fix the program but it's see this is a tough place to be because there are so many other programs that have been like I constantly think like Indiana with this and I don't know why I think of like Romeo Langford is the first one I think of. But I think of like there are other programs that we saw with Rutgers this year, right? There's these programs that have struggled or maybe they've been
Starting point is 00:13:27 okay, but they haven't been like elite and in India in this case, maybe not living up to what their standards are. And they bring in this like five-star recruit and everybody's like, oh, this is going to be what gets us over the top. And it doesn't a lot of times. And that is my worry now that Kansas has gotten to a point where it's like, is that one thing going to save them? Is that one thing going to help them? Because in the past, it was like, oh, cool. This really good player is going to come on.
Starting point is 00:13:53 He's going to join a really good roster. And right now I'm sitting there looking at it's like, okay, Dewan Harris graduates, Hunter Dickinson graduates, KJ Adams graduates, Kilmore graduates. You're going to lose a bunch of players in the transfer portal. You know, off the top of my head, if I'm just like guessing this comes with no Intel, like AJ sore, probably gone. Rylan Griffin, probably gone. I can't imagine either one's going to be happy with how this season went. I have no idea what's going to happen with Zach Clements.
Starting point is 00:14:16 No idea what would happen with like a guy like he's passed more help. Rikish is back and, you know, we're going to wait and see. The point is like, there's not going to be a lot of returners, right? Is he Mayo graduates too, right? So it's hard for me to say like, oh, the program is me. And maybe that's a good thing. Maybe starting fresh is a good thing on one hand, because you have this idea that, OK. You know, fresh start, right? These last two years have been have been very poor from KU standards.
Starting point is 00:14:45 Fresh start, start over. You don't want any, I don't know, I guess you want Flory back, right? So maybe that goes away here. And I definitely want Flory back. He was really good in this game, and that was a good way to go in the off season for him. But I guess it comes to a point where it's like you don't want like a rotten apple to poison the rest of the bunch. And I don't think that'd be the case. I think Flory works really hard and I think he'll be, you know, take a big step next season. But I'm not worried about that there. But to a bigger degree, do you want to kind of start fresh for a majority of the roster? But then the calendar to that is Billself has clearly struggled, A, identifying good fits in the transfer portal consistently. He's found some. Like Kevin
Starting point is 00:15:24 McCuller was a great fit, right? Maybe that's a lesson here. Find more junkyard dogs who can be good two-way players, like Kevin McColler. And maybe this team won't be the best shooting team, but they'll be good at rebounding. They'll be good at, I don't know, executing and defense and toughness and winning games down the stretch.
Starting point is 00:15:42 That would at least be better than where they are right now, right? And so, that flip side is that because they've struggled there and because Bill Self has typically just done better with players who have been in the program for longer, it's like you need to start fresh and revamp your talent, but at the same point in time, that hasn't worked for Bill Self. Now, I guess there is a question to be had with that
Starting point is 00:16:04 where it's like, has that just not worked for Bill Self because he's picked the wrong guys? You know what I mean? Like if, let's say you don't go out and get Ryland Griffin and AJ Stor. Let's say you get Javon Small, which Kay you wanted Javon Small, but I think at that point in time,
Starting point is 00:16:17 he saw all the players that were coming in and it was probably like, I can play a bigger role in West Virginia and had a great season at West Virginia. Let's say they hadn't brought in those guys and there was more of an opening and they were able to close the deal with Jovan Small. Like, does that change things? I would think it probably does in a real way. Having another ball handler who can score and get buckets off the bounce and do a little bit of everything,
Starting point is 00:16:36 probably does. So to me, this comes down to more to choosing the right guys. Now, how do we know that they're going to choose the right guys this offseason? I don't know. And maybe it means that we need to have a more skeptical eye with the guys that they do bring in this offseason from the transfer portal. I guess the one caveat here is you have more time to scour the transfer portal, but you had more time last year and you know, it didn't totally pay out for it. Right. So this ends the this little two year the the Hunter Dickinson era, if you want to call it, I think it's interesting because from the perspective of KJ Adams and Duann Harris, to me, like this doesn't impact legacy in any ways. I viewed both as like good role players that I appreciated their hustle and effort for KU and Duann had a big piece in
Starting point is 00:17:28 you winning the national championship. So like, you'll get over this. To me, this is more of an indictment on the Hunter Dickinson era where it's like, you couldn't turn this into winning. And is that more on Bill Self? Is it more on an individual player or players on the team? I don't know. But they got a lot of work to do. Because 13 losses ain't acceptable at Kansas and not making a sweet 16 to 2018. Besides the 2022 season winning one title, which you get bonus points for. I think I said earlier, I forgot to say 2022. But you do get bonus points for it because winning the title is awesome. But they ain't good enough at Kansas.
Starting point is 00:18:07 There's a long list of teams who have made multiple Sweet 16 since 2019 on. So where do you go from here? Hard reset. Let's talk about how many openings you could have on the roster and what maybe the lineup could look like next season. This is Lockdown Jayhawks. is Locked On Jayhawks. The NCAA tournament is here and so is the bracket breakdown. Locked On Podcast Network and the Amazon Fire TV channels are teaming up to deliver NCAA tournament coverage
Starting point is 00:18:36 like never before. Watch studio shows featuring former players and Locked On's local experts as they guide you through every upset, buzzer beater, and bracket matchup. Stream it all for free on Amazon Fire TV channels. Search Bracket Breakdown to see it all for free. It's your team, every day. Well, the tournament is still going on.
Starting point is 00:18:57 It might take you a few days to detox, or maybe it's an easier detox this year because you weren't expecting big things from KU. But even then, it feels like even when you weren't expecting big things from KU. But even then, it feels like even when you weren't expecting big things from this turnaround, you were still like, okay, but beat the team your four and a half point favorites against and at least, you know, make it feel like you have a chance against St. John's, you know, and not even that could happen as John Calipari now two and one against Bill Self in the NCAA tournament.
Starting point is 00:19:21 So you look at next year's roster for KU basketball. And like I said, it's gonna to be a lot of new faces. Darren Peterson going to be leading the way. Ryland Griffin, AJ Stor both could come back. I would assume neither is going to come back. I guess I'd put a 25% chance that one comes back. Maybe like a 20, not even that, like a 20% chance that one comes back. And again, that doesn't come with like Intel that's just like me reading obvious
Starting point is 00:19:50 tea leaves of, oh, they're probably not happy with how the season went both as a team and their individual role from kind of start to finish. The hope is that Florid Badun goes back and I think he could take a big step as a sophomore. The hope is that El Marco Jackson comes back healthy and he takes a big step as what will be a redshirt sophomore season next year. Hope is her keys pass more is back and he takes a big step as a sophomore. But you can see there's a trend there. I hope this guy takes a step as a sophomore help this guy takes a step. That's you're not going to need every
Starting point is 00:20:19 single one to do that. But you probably need at least two of them. I guess you doge of Mario McDowell in there too. If he's back as a redshirt sophomore, you need probably at least two of them. I guess you have Dejahmari McDowell in there too, if he's back as a redshirt sophomore. You need probably at least two of those four guys as sophomores to take a big leap from, you know, their first season to their second season of play. And what big leap means? Does it mean becoming an All-American?
Starting point is 00:20:34 Does it mean just coming to 10 point per game score who's like a quality player? I think it depends on which one of those. But that's a little bit scary that you're in a position where it's like you are just banking on internal development. And then you're also banking on good transition or transactional decisions with the transfer portal to right. And then you look at Zach Clements could be back Richard
Starting point is 00:20:57 Senior again, I would imagine like wouldn't surprise me if he's like, hey, I want to go somewhere and get more playing time somewhere. But you know, he stuck around already, maybe he'll stick around a little bit longer. Bryson tiller was able to wrench her this year, which at the very least has been around the program and gotten the KU medical treatment, which is, you know, top notch and everything. So that's a positive, but also he never
Starting point is 00:21:17 actually got to practice with the teams like how much is he gonna learn about playing for Bill South there and he's gonna be coming off an injury now. That also makes there's another thing two guys and Marco Jackson and Bryson Tiller, who you might be counting on to be in your rotation, who are going to have to overcome being injured in the past, right? And then you have Samiz Calderon committed right now,
Starting point is 00:21:33 I guess, Jaden Nickens as well. It's, for better for worse, it is an open forum for Bill Self here, right? And if you hit on the transfer portal, which maybe he's due, maybe he's due at this point in time, then it works great. Question is, what do you do?
Starting point is 00:21:53 And what do you do stylistically? Like that'll be super interesting. How does Bill Self wanna play? Does he wanna play with a wing at the fork? Does he wanna play with a guard? Does he wanna play with like kind of a traditional power forward who can shoot maybe a little bit, maybe two, three threes per game or something like
Starting point is 00:22:08 that and can help dominate the glass? Does he want to play with like two traditional bigs like we kind of saw this year? That'll be an interesting question. I think I'd find a hard time believing that Bill Self is not going to want to play with like a second big in some way, but what is that second big? Is it playing two centers? Is it playing Flory next to another center? Or is it playing Flory next to like a traditional power forward? I'm thinking he's gonna want to play Flory next to like a traditional power forward. Someone who's like, I don't know, 6'8", 6'9", could play the
Starting point is 00:22:37 five if he needed to him as an underside five, like kind of like what Bryson Tiller could be except maybe a more experienced player out of the transfer portal that you know, you can count on right away to kind of make that move. But that's also scary too because we saw the cost of that. Kansas goes out and you know brings on some of these transfers, AJ Storr and Ryland Griffin. And so a guy like LeBaron Thylon who was a young freshman who was talented sees it and goes, okay, it's gonna be tough to crack the rotation here,
Starting point is 00:23:05 even though not the same position, it's still minutes that's going somewhere else. And he says, I'm going to Alabama. And you don't want that to happen with like Bryson Tiller, right? Because what if you had to be in a similar situation? So it's interesting because in so many years past, it's just been like, ah, you trust Bill Self
Starting point is 00:23:18 to figure out the off season. You trust Bill Self to find the right guys. You trust Spring Bill. He does so good at getting these commits. That hasn't changed in terms of him being able to get the commits. It's can you find the right guys, you trust spring bill, he does so good at getting these commits that hasn't changed in terms of him being able to get the commits. It's can you find the right decision makers. And there was a comment from Bill self month ago several weeks ago, talking about do they need a GM. And he said,
Starting point is 00:23:36 Yeah, I'd be cool with the GM. But it wasn't the answer I was really looking for. Because he was like, Yeah, I'd be cool with the GM for like fundraising efforts. And like, yes, if that takes something off his plate, makes it easier there, and puts a buffer between him and the alumni to where, you know, he doesn't have to worry about, okay, this transfer is struggling, I would just cut ties with them from the rotation at this point in time. But you know, this alumni is never going to give me money, money again, if that happens. Now I don't have to deal with that face to face, whatever, I'll just coach. That could be a positive. But I think part of this too is like, you can't be coaching
Starting point is 00:24:08 your team all season and doing all things you need to do practice scouting and everything and be so in tune with the transfer portal and what players are good at what over the course of the season, you just have to like deep dive into it now. And I don't know how successful that is. I think they need a GM who handles personnel decision too. And if Bill Self wants to be the final word or wants to be like Andy Reid and Brad Veitch work together and Andy Reid is like, yeah, I like this guy or Brad Veitch will show him somebody and he's like, yeah, that's good. Right. It's a, it's a combination effort. I think that's what it needs to be, but it doesn't sound
Starting point is 00:24:36 like that's going to be the case. And that does scare me at least a little bit here, but the off season has started. It has begun way too early for Kansas Jayhawks basketball for yet another season. And Darren Peterson, come save us. All right, that'll be it for this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcasts, including on our YouTube page.
Starting point is 00:24:55 See you next time for another edition of Lockdown Jayhawks talking about the offseason.

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