Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - KANSAS PORTAL TARGET: Did Bill Self Find His Backup Big in Pat Suemnick from WVU & Oklahoma State?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Did KU find their backup big man and Pat Swemnick a transfer from Oklahoma State and West Virginia? 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. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. What's going on Derek Johnson here this is locked on Jayhawks thanks for making it your first listen every day. Thank you every dayers catching each and every episode of the show. You can find us anywhere you get your podcast including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the action and on today's edition of Locked on J-Ox, we're talking about Pat Zuebnik. He is a transfer who maybe would fill the back of big man role for KU. He's an experienced Big 12 player.

Starting point is 00:00:50 He just visited KU. So we're gonna break down what he would bring to the table, how he would fit in with KU as well, as some of the latest news in the portal and KU baseball still trying to end their skid in Big 12 play. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Amazon Fire TV Stick 4k, turn any TV into your

Starting point is 00:01:08 Xbox, no consoles needed. Head to amazon.com slash fire TV locked on to learn more. Okay, so Pat suemnik visited Kansas this according to I believe Jayhawk slant from earlier this week, he is a big man transfer who began his career out of Green Bay, Wisconsin, went to Robert Morris, and that was in the 2020 to 2021 season there. So that would be the COVID year, I guess the year where the year eligibility didn't count, I guess, because of it being the year after COVID and stuff. And, you know, as a young player, 16 games played as freshmen, two and a half points, one and a half rebounds per game 59% from the floor.

Starting point is 00:01:54 Then in his second year of collegiate ball, he goes to JuCo, and goes to Triton College in Illinois, team goes 30 and six, he ends up being a first team junior college All American during his second season. So, you know, great. Then he transfers up because of how good he was that year to all the way the power five level with West Virginia. Whereas at that point, he's a third year player. But now looking back on it, where the Juco year doesn't count or

Starting point is 00:02:22 the COVID year doesn't count. He's really a third year freshman that year, West Virginia. 21 games played, 1.4 points per game, 1.3 rebounds per game as kind of a reserve big man and 5.7 points per game. Those numbers go up in his second year with West Virginia, his fourth overall of college, and that was in 2023 to 2024. He actually started six games, played in 32 of them, played 14 minutes per game. So, you know, those are serviceable backup big minutes, right? I mean, we've seen some bigs for KU, was the backup play eight minutes per game.

Starting point is 00:02:51 We've seen other play closer to 15. It was Swemnick the 14 there. That was really his best season, his final year at West Virginia averaged 4.1 points, 2.6 rebounds per game, 0.3 blocks, 0.3 steals per game on 54% from the floor and 60% at the foul line. But then he decided to transfer again this past season stays in the big 12 winds up at Oklahoma State replaced 34 games about 12

Starting point is 00:03:17 minutes per game, about three points per game, two rebounds, point three assists, point four steals point two blocks. And he does it shooting 52% from the floor. Effectively low percentage and true shooting percentage a little bit lower than most you know, big men would be necessarily but this is an experienced player at the power level and at the big 12 level and because of the fact that again, he had the COVID year or Robert Morris and the juco year that allows him to have that extra year of place.

Starting point is 00:03:48 Even though he's played, you know, five seasons of college basketball for the division one level, because two of them don't count, he'll be able to be a sixth year senior this upcoming season. That's why he has eligibility in there. But the strengths to Svebnik's game,

Starting point is 00:04:04 he gets the free throw line at a good rate, and I think part of that is his physicality. I mean, he's not the tallest guy in the world, six foot eight, 225 pounds. He's built well enough. He does have decent strength and stuff, and like he is able to use some power to get to the free throw line.

Starting point is 00:04:18 He had a 91st percentile free throw attempt rate last year. The year before, West Virginia, he had an 85th percentile free throw attempt right. So this is a guy who does a good job using that body to power through and get to the free throw line. He also uses that physicality to get put backs on the offensive glass. He was in the 77th percentile in second chance points per 40 minutes this past season. And again, if we go back to the year before his best year at West Virginia,

Starting point is 00:04:46 he was in the 93rd percentile in Morgantown in the second chance points per 40 minutes. So a guy's gonna get to the free throw line, he's gonna get your stick backs on the offensive glass. Also good at getting steals. I mean, 66 percentile steal rate for a big man. So like, you know, that's a plus. It's not an elite number there,

Starting point is 00:05:04 but it's a good number, right? That's something you like to see there. Obviously to get those offensive book backs, you have to be at least be a solid offensive rebounder to get there. This season he was in the 50th percentile for offensive rebound rates. That would just tell you he's dead average,

Starting point is 00:05:16 but you know, it's not a weakness, it's dead average. But the year before West Virginia, it was much better. 87th percentile in offensive rebound rate at West Virginia. Now some of that could come schematically. Like does one team want you, you know, getting back on defense a little bit more does another team ask of you to, you know, crash the glass a little bit more but like it is in there that he can be a really good offensive rebounder. He's also a low usage player and he's a I get this comes from reports like this isn't something that like I can point to on a statue and be like his teammate rating

Starting point is 00:05:45 on ESPN is a 4.2 like, I don't know. I don't know. But like scouting reports say that he is a good locker room presence. That's what people say and that he's just overall like a good dude. And obviously has plenty of experience in the big 12. And so you you combine that with maybe being like, I guess you could also say like a low ego player with being a low usage player out there. It's important to have some of those players as you build out your roster.

Starting point is 00:06:09 It's important to have those from a, you know, sacrificing for a team perspective, but also because, you know, if you're Pat Zwemnik and you come into Kansas and, you know, if you're playing 14 minutes a game, if you're playing eight minutes per game, you don't want somebody who's at as a rotational player or a bench player or you know what happens if he does end up being somebody who, you know, isn't playing a gigantic role, are they going to be a problem in the locker room, you don't want those guys who are on that fringe of are they going to be in the rotation or not, to be that you want them to be good team players and to lift up the locker room and still make

Starting point is 00:06:43 impacts in practice and when they do get out on the floor. And by all accounts, it sounds like suemnik is that guy and that makes him kind of a perfect I don't know role player for what you were kind of looking for here. The big questions here. He's not the best defensive rebounder. I wonder if that comes from I mean, for the lack of height to if you're talking about him playing the five, you know, at six foot eight, 225, he's playing the four. He has more than good enough size,

Starting point is 00:07:08 but at six, eight, 225, he's playing the five. He will be a little undersized. Now we did see Kansas, you know, play guys like that at times. So there, I think Dwight Colby was like, what, six, nine. Carlton Brad was like six, 10 at times playing the five, but you know, didn't really want to be down there. Mitch Lightfoot was like six, eight,

Starting point is 00:07:24 and probably less than 225 of what, you know, Swemnick is. So we've seen Kansas be able to get away with some of those guys. But yeah, he's not the biggest guy in the world. And he hasn't been a very good defensive rebounder only in the 14th percentile for defensive rebound rate this past season. So that's a bad number. That number is higher again.

Starting point is 00:07:42 If you look at his final number or his final season at West Virginia, it's even worse. Fourth percentile in defensive rebound rate is finally at West Virginia. So 14th percentile defensive rebound rate this year, fourth percentile defensive rebound rate his last year at West Virginia. So that is something where it's like, if he's going to be on the floor,

Starting point is 00:08:03 you would need your four man and your three man. Like you would need other players to be good defensive rebounders out there. If you are Kansas. Also not much of an offensive game. I mean, he is more of a low usage player. So you're not asking him to post up and go with it. But you know, 41st percentile effective field goal percentage only in the eighth percentile in free throw percentage

Starting point is 00:08:21 only in the 25th percentile in true shooting percentage. He was in the 37th percentile in the paint at the rim And he only took six shots all season long outside of the paint so not like a diverse offensive game He was more efficient in these areas in his final year at West, Virginia And I think the reason is simple at Oklahoma State He played more five than four, which I do think Kansas would be asking him more to do, but at West Virginia he was playing more four than he was five, though it was kind of close. And so I think at KU you look at him being a five.

Starting point is 00:08:58 Like I guess I don't know that I would be wanting lineups where he would be next to Flory Badunga, where he's the four and Flory Badunga where he's the four and Flory is the five because there's there's just I mean that's two guys who I don't know did before take any shots outside of the paint this year without looking and I'm not sure I have the answer to that but it if it was it was probably single digits and so it's not even like okay at least on this past year's Kansas team when there was a lack of spacing with the two bigs well KJ could still at least shoot the floater from the mid-range and okay, at least on this past year's Kansas team, when there was a lack of spacing with the two bigs, well, KJ could still at least shoot the floater from the mid range and Hunter could at least

Starting point is 00:09:28 shoot the mid range well and shoot the three point shot. If you're playing Suemnik next to Flory for certain lineups, neither guy's shooting out of the paint. So I would not love that idea, but I don't think that's the idea. I think the idea here would be get a guy who can be a backup big for you and be happy with his role and be a good team player. And from that perspective, I think there idea here would be get a guy who can be a backup big for you and be happy with his role and be a good team player.

Starting point is 00:09:46 And from that perspective, I think there is some interest. But we'll get into that in the fit conversation here in a second. The other part of this is not much passing game either. 17th percentile assist rate, 23rd percentile assist turnover rate. But again, he's going to be a low usage offense player. Would more so be out there. You'd just be asking him to rebound and hold your own on the defense. So how exactly would he fit in with Kansas?

Starting point is 00:10:05 Get to that next. Our episode is brought to you by Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. Did you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? You can turn any TV in your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices. No console required. Just grab your paired controller, subscribe or sign in to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ultimate with EA play included and you're ready to

Starting point is 00:10:28 let money or you could split up the TVs or you have the ability with the Fire TV stick where if you're on the go if you're traveling It's a lot easier to bring a fire TV stick with you than it is to bring a console It's a great way to get into Xbox two without spending as big of a cost on a console. Maybe you don't even have a console and you're just like, eh, should I get this? Should I not? Well, boom, you can give it a try. Or maybe you're just going to be hooked on it and you'll stay with this forever, right? It's great. So head to amazon.com slash fire TV locked on to get started. Xbox game pass ultimate subscription and compatible controller required available on select devices, including fire TV Stick 4K, second generation,

Starting point is 00:11:06 Fire TV Stick 4K Max, the first, second generation, and the Fire TV Cube third generation. Thanks for joining us on Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Figured every day was catching each and every episode of the show. We'll have some more deep dives coming at you next week on the show, going over some guards that we think are kind of interesting as far as, you know, we talk about

Starting point is 00:11:30 what is still needed for KU at this point in time. You know, they have four scholarships remaining. You try to get another like stud player, whether it's Darian Williams, Damesar, RJ Lewis, Jamiro Watkins, whoever. You try to get back a big, which maybe that's who I'm Nick, right? You try to get maybe a more developmental player. And then the fourth edition, it could be another backup big. It could be somebody in that dinghy, coit, Jalen Coleman, Lance role.

Starting point is 00:11:56 So we're going to break down some guys that maybe would fit into that specific role, kind of a sniper, three point shooter, that eighth, ninth man, the dinghy, coit role off the bench on next week. Okay. How exactly would Pat Zweimnick fit on this year's Kansas roster?

Starting point is 00:12:12 First of all, what would he add to the team? I think he'd add more physicality to the team, right? I mean, this guy would be a six year player. He'd be an older player and that's something he would add to, right? He would experience, he would add, you know, I don't know, it's nice to have guys who are seasoned and I guess mature both on and off the court physically and mentally, right? Like those are good

Starting point is 00:12:34 things to be teammates with, right? But the physicality, he would add that a little bit to the team. I think low ego end of bench possibilities, like you add that to the team, and you need to add that to the team, right? Because you can't go out and get some center and be like, hey, I know you're expecting 30 minutes per game, come over here, like we'll make it work. And then all of a sudden they're playing 10 minutes a game and they're pissed. You don't want that situation. That's going to be bad for the locker room, right? So you'd have to worry about that with Sue Omnich. And then it would give you another big man who gives you, I think more depth in the case of, okay,

Starting point is 00:13:06 you need somebody to play the minutes floor, he's on the bench. Maybe that's Bryson Tiller, but he's going off the injury. So it gives you insurance in case of, you know, Tiller, gives you insurance in case one or two of those guys gets hurt or is in foul trouble. It gives you another, that's the other thing without walk-ons now, like you need big men

Starting point is 00:13:21 who are gonna be able to bang and provide good looks on the defensive end of the floor in practice. Right. And that's where it comes into play, too. Where that would make sense. I wouldn't solve it wouldn't overhaul your post scoring. It wouldn't give you more defensive rebounding. In fact, that would be something you would have to adjust to the lack of defensive rebounding.

Starting point is 00:13:40 It also wouldn't give you like a ton of size off the bench. I mean, tiller has a very long wingspan. So that would be helpful there. But again, kind of questions about, you know, what's what's going on with there with the injury and everything. But we've seen kids with a title where, you know, again, mish life, it was the backup big so it is a possibility. But as far as how he fit in role wise, I'll say this, like, if you did tell me

Starting point is 00:14:07 Pat Ziemnik ends up being the backup big man, I don't think it's like disaster mode, but I do think the tough part is that, you know, the Parker Brown role, like, there's that scale. I think I've talked about this before, like Parker Brown to Mitch Lightfoot on the scale of like backup big man, Who you know is behind a stud big man is gonna be limited in minutes, right? And how well can they play in the last year Mitch Lightfoot? Like he's very good. Like he was blocking shots

Starting point is 00:14:34 He was getting rebounds yet again I bring this up all the time like his hook shot was like in the 90 something percentile for Hook shots in college basketball that year. So like he was able to give you some proficient things. I don't think that I'd go that you would expect him to be that good in Suemnik because I don't know that you have the at least that one go-to post move that Mitch Lightfoot had and also Suemnik not as good of a shot blocker. Mitch wasn't the best defensive rebounder but better rates than Suemnik had. But I also think it's more physicality and presence than what you had with Parker Brown. That maybe is a harder comparison because brown was putting up bigger stats but it was at san clara where suemnik's been in the big 12 and i think that physicality does matter

Starting point is 00:15:13 but also the difference there is parker brown was the backup donner dickinson who was playing two you know 30 32 minutes a night some games 35 minutes in a specific night so it's a little bit less of a role with suemnik yeah it'd be great if flor is playing 30 minutes a night, some games 35 minutes in a specific night. So it's a little bit less of a role with Sue Mnich. Yeah, it'd be great if Flory is playing 30 minutes a night because that probably means he's been awesome. And he's avoiding foul trouble. But I do think Flory is going to be more of the notion of a big man for Bill Self. You know, you look at David McCormick or you don't guys a bootcase minute per game

Starting point is 00:15:39 numbers, they're closer to the mid 20s, right? And so let's say floor even gets you 28. that's a bigger role available than when Parker Brown had to backup Hunter Dickinson. Just that notion, I don't know that I would love the fact of Suemnik giving you 12, 15 minutes per game, but I think in an ideal world, what happens is if you land Suemnik, Bryce and Tiller comes back healthy

Starting point is 00:16:02 and Tiller's able to give you minutes, the five and the four a little bit. You can play a little too big basketball. He can be the backup five and Sue M. Nick is the kind of third string center at that point. And at that point it'd be awesome. And you look at that. I forget the name of the kid, but Duke just brought in a big man from rice who if you looked the, gosh, what is his name? I'm not even gonna be able to

Starting point is 00:16:28 pronounce this. Ifani Ufuchukwu? I don't know if that's right. But anyway, he was averaging like two points per game at Rice. And so what does that tell you? I know what it tells me. It's hard to find the back of big man in the transfer portal because you were having to sell There is a going to be a realistic limit on your minutes You know and not a lot of guys are willing to do that or wanting to do that and a lot of guys want to you Know as much as money is a driving force and probably the biggest driving force of the portal Plane time is a huge driving force still right like so Kansas you so Kansas, you couldn't and that's the other thing, Kansas doesn't want to have to offer a huge sum. They want to use some of their NIL money to bring in,

Starting point is 00:17:10 you know, a star player or whatever it is. But that's kind of a tough thing for players like, you know, and maybe the longer we are in the portal, some players are going to have to realize, OK, there's no more starting center spots available. Like, I guess I will make good money at Kansas and be the backup center. You know what I mean? Before being like, I, I wouldn't have a problem with this at all. You know, low ego player, that's good to have at the end of your bench gives you more physicality gives you insurance in case tiller can't be fully healthy. Like I said, it wouldn't be fully comfortable. If he's the eighth man in your rotation, I would like it to be a little bit better than that. But in an ideal world, tiller can give you

Starting point is 00:17:47 some sort of minutes there. And Sue emnick is there for caution for safety in case both those don't happen. And there's a good teammate and can play spot minutes here or there. And if anybody's in foul trouble, you can play him here and there. And he can still give you some backup, you know, minutes and give you good practice looks and stuff like that. And yeah, I would like the app because you do have to fill out the roster somehow.

Starting point is 00:18:07 And, you know, again, like there's just, there's not the option to go out and get somebody who was averaging 15 and 10 at a smaller school to come in and be like, yeah, but you're now you're gonna play 12 minutes per game at Kansas, that's just, that's not really there. And so you have to be a little bit, you know, I don't know, more loose with your selections here. And, you know, I think't know more loose with your selections here and you know, I think so.

Starting point is 00:18:27 I'm not gonna be interested. What would be beyond interesting is that they posted some photos from visiting who's wearing a number 88 jersey. Now, what they wear on those visits isn't always indicative of like what they would end up wearing. In fact, I think like I think the I don't know Darren Peterson, is he going to be wearing 22 for Kansas? I think Dom Maysar just had his visit with Kansas in a 22 jersey. Somebody else, one of the other transfers for KU. Maybe it was Jaden Dawson. I don't remember, it was right at 22. It just felt like the 22 has been the default,

Starting point is 00:18:52 but 88, that would certainly be interesting. I know for a fact he'd be the first 88 in Kansas basketball history, because they didn't start allowing the numbers above 55 till very recently. But yeah, I just think that'd be very interesting. All right, latest other portal news, just mentioned Dame Sar visiting as well for KU. We'll get to all that and more.

Starting point is 00:19:09 This is Locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever check your bank account and wonder, where'd all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping, and entertainment, it's easy to lose track. That's where Monarch Money comes in. Your personal CFO giving you full visibility

Starting point is 00:19:28 and control over your finances. Monarch Money isn't just a budgeting app. It's a complete financial command center. You can track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place. So you just stop managing your money and start building wealth. All-in-one convenience with Monarch Money

Starting point is 00:19:41 allows you to, instead of juggling multiple apps, you can use Monarch to check your finances, track spending, and even plan long-term goals. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLege at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com. Code LOCKEDONCOLLege for half off

Starting point is 00:20:01 your first year with Monarch Money. Thanks for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks. We'll have any portal breaking news over the weekend if it so happens. We've been dry on breaking news. We had the occasional rumor that little piece of bait that might catch you along, but no big fish catch yet. Maybe this weekend is the one that happens in Damaisar visiting Kansas. So they had Swemnick visiting Damaisar visiting Kansas starting Wednesday, according to Eric Bossy and 24 seven sports and took some pictures rocking the KU uniform. Yeah, that'd be exciting. If you picked KU, we did our Damaisar deep dive. Thank you to everydears if you already caught it and you know, he's a very interesting player. That's for sure. Also KU offer this was out on social media today, a junior college player

Starting point is 00:20:53 Wes Ball, which I guess you know meant to play sports that last name. He is a six foot eight 215 pound. I guess we call him the power forward from I don't know maybe it would be a center from Pima Community College. That's a juke. Very good juke. Oh, they were 35 and one this past season. They finished third in the country. They have a third place game at the juke. Oh, ranks a good numbers, almost 13 points per game, eight rebounds per game, 62% from the floor.

Starting point is 00:21:19 So what I find interesting there with West balls, going back to the idea, if you have four scholarships, right? You want one more stud player, maybe you want a developmental player, you want another backup big, and then what do you do with the fourth spot? Do you get a diggy court role player or do you get another big man to have even more depth there? In conjunction with the Suemnik stuff, it would West Ball be the answer to that where you'd have two of them. Or is that an indication that Kansas doesn't feel great? Like they don't know if Sue Mnuch is gonna pick them or not. Maybe Sue Mnuch does pick them, right? But did they make that offer as a backup plan to Sue Mnuch

Starting point is 00:21:55 in case, because similar size, six foot eight, 215, six foot eight, 225, you know, Sue Mnuch, a little beefier there, but you know, is this maybe a backup plan to that? Or is it in conjunction? I think that would be kind of interesting. Another name maybe possibly to watch according to Trillie Donovan is Declan Duro of Real Madrid, athletic foreman, 18 years old.

Starting point is 00:22:14 You know, kind of same idea of Dom Esar bringing somebody over from the international routes. That'd be interesting. And then the last one here is Malik Thomas, who I haven't seen any KU interest to this point, but he got granted officially another year of eligibility. I guess Virginia is like the heavy favorite right now, but let's say the SAR thing doesn't happen or let's say Darian Williams, you think he's gonna stay in the draft

Starting point is 00:22:38 or whatever it is, right? I, Malik Thomas might make some sense. 615205, he's not a wing that you would want playing the four Because I would have questions about the rebounding and the defense But if you're just talking bringing on a wing who you know can be a score and a shooter 20 points per game at San Francisco before that he was at USC He shot 39.4 percent from three on five point three attempts per game 85 percent from the foul line on six and a half steps

Starting point is 00:23:05 for game so he gets the free throw line 89th percentile free throw attempt rate he shoots threes at a high rate and he makes threes at a high rate he shot a 43% on above the break threes as well which was in the 93rd percentile so he would be somebody who again like I'm still you know looking at SAR and Williams and Lewis and those guys right. But I don't know to me it would make sense for for Kansas to at least reach out and have some sort of interest that if you do get further down the line maybe he does make sense a little bit further on. The last piece of news here KU baseball see if they can get back at it on Friday and Saturday because they fell to BYU almost had another comeback but just fell a little bit short in the end. They did beat Missouri in a midweek game

Starting point is 00:23:46 which is obviously important, beat your rival, one on the road, stuff like that. But now four straight losses in Big 12 play for KU baseball. I'm sure they'll be fine and hopefully they turn it around and get hot at the right time, which is kind of coming up here toward the end of the regular season.

Starting point is 00:23:59 But yeah, they need to stop the skid in Big 12 play. So a couple with BYU, they've obviously still got that big series at West Virginia coming up at the end of the regularid in Big 12 play. So a couple with BYU, they've obviously still got that big series at West Virginia coming up at the end of the regular season, Big 12 tournament coming up after that. But I still feel good that there'll be a tournament team and stuff like that.

Starting point is 00:24:13 But you need to start seeing some more Ws back in the wind column as opposed to how these past four games have gone. But they've shaken, they shook off the three game sweep they had to TCU very well right after that. And we'll see if they can respond again to these four straight Big 12 losses. I don't know if for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks, you can find our show anywhere, get your podcast including on our YouTube page. We'll be back at you if there's any

Starting point is 00:24:36 breaking news over the weekend. If not, coming at you on Monday with some more transfer portal talk right here with LOJ.

Your Ad Here

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - KANSAS PORTAL TARGET: Did Bill Self Find His Backup Big in Pat Suemnick from WVU & Oklahoma State?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.