Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - LATE NIGHT IN THE PHOG: Darryn Peterson's Debut, Paul Mbiya's Arms, Elmarko Jackson's Return & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 KU Basketball is back. It is late night in the fog time. We get to see Darren Peterson. What are we going to be looking out for as we preview late night in the fog? 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.

Starting point is 00:00:28 This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. And thank you the everydayers catching each and every episode of the show. We are free and available anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe. And on today's edition of Locked on Jayhawks, we are previewing late night in the fog. KU basketball is back, baby. We're going to get into what I'm going to be watching for, what are some of the exciting

Starting point is 00:00:51 things to watch for, what we're not going to be able to learn from late night in the fog, which is honestly most things. It doesn't matter. We're going to have fun and overreact anyway. And then we'll also get into a little key woman's basketball preview as well because I think a very interesting team for Brandon Schneider this year led by some Ia Nichols who might be one of the best players in the country. Today's episode of Lockdown Jayhawks is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook.

Starting point is 00:01:15 Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today with Fanduel. So late in the fog, he's happening Friday night in Lawrence. And I think just in general, it feels like it signals the beginning of basketball season. This year, I don't know if it's happening later on the calendar. It's just like the season has moved up, but it does feel like it is later into the offseason. Like, it feels like it is so much closer to the start of the season, I guess, the best way of putting it.

Starting point is 00:01:45 Because I know it's not the start of the season until, what is it, November 3rd or something like that, but you have two exhibition games before them. And one of the exhibition games is a big time game. You're playing at Louisville. Louisville is going to be one of the top. top 25 teams in the country. You could make an argument. Louisville has the best back court in the country.

Starting point is 00:02:02 That's going to be a really tough game. It's going to be a really fun game. We're going to learn a lot from KU. And that is next Friday. So we're only a week away from that. So this late night in the fog feels like it is closer to everything just kind of happening. Obviously, the number one storyline, the number thing that one thing that I'm watching, that I'm one thing that everybody's going to be watching in this is Darren Peterson.

Starting point is 00:02:24 Darren Peterson is the show. Darren Peterson is the guy that everybody wants to see. And you're not going to learn, is he going to be an All-American in this game? But you certainly are going to see what makes him so good, I think. And in terms of like, I don't know, like you have this highly prized, highly recruited player who potentially could be the number one pick in the NBA draft. when you get those level of players, you cherish them and you kind of notice it in any setting. It could be a practice. It could be a game. It could be this situation, which is,

Starting point is 00:03:04 I guess, kind of a mix of both. And I think you're just going to kind of see the all-around game. And so you're just kind of looking to watch him and see how he looks out there and what does he look like in a KU uniform and how does he look different in some ways? And, you know, just do you get a couple highlight plays and fun moments from Darren Peterson. Now, without it out, I think for everyone is they just want to see Darren Peterson play a little of Kansas basketball. The other thing that I'm really looking forward to this, and I guess we'll wait and see, but typically in some of the years past, as part of the ESPN3 broadcast, or I'd assume that's what they're doing again for this for the scrimmage, but they've had Bill Self on the microphone. So they've had Brian Haney,

Starting point is 00:03:45 Greg Gurley calling the game. And then they've had Bill Self come in and just kind of of interview with them, answer questions, provide a little color commentary here and there for the game. And it is amazing when he does it because it's, hey, you get a lot of good insights, you get a lot of good information from Bill Self in that, you know, in those settings in that situation. But it's also amazing because he can't totally turn the coach off and it makes for the interview even better, in my opinion, because you'll get moments through the scrimage where they're just like talking about something and Bill Self's answering the question. And And all of a sudden, somebody will shoot like an ill-advised shot.

Starting point is 00:04:23 And Bill Self will just like stop what he's talking about. Like, gee whiz, what is he doing? Can you believe he took that shot? Like stuff like that. But you'll get really good insights from it. So I hope that's going to be the format for this again. Because honestly, like that's going to be the most telling and learning thing as part of this process for me.

Starting point is 00:04:40 And I think to learn more kind of about the team, but also it is just kind of entertaining. So I hope we get that again. And if we do, that'll be something I'm definitely looking forward to. You know, it's funny. Among all the new players, the KU has, there's a lot of them, right? Three transfers coming into the program for the team with Melvin Council, Trey White, both we've heard a lot of good things about with Bill Self, Jaden Dawson, who I don't know if he's going to be playing or not.

Starting point is 00:05:02 Sounds like he was nursing an injury as of earlier this week. So maybe he'll be out for this one. Maybe it'll be questionable for the Louisville game. But you have all those newcomers. You have all the freshmen coming in. We mentioned Darren Peterson. You have all of the international players coming in with Gingala. And it's that other one that on.

Starting point is 00:05:19 Honestly, besides Darren Peterson, I think the guy I'm most interested to see is Paul M. Bia. Like, I'm interested to see Florida Bidunga. What does he look like? And from a standpoint of like, do we see Bidunga post up at all? Do we see Bidunga show a little bit more of a increased offensive game in some way? But it's like, how often in a scrimmage setting do we get post-ups? It's not as often as you think. So it's like, I feel like I have an idea where what that is. I have an idea of at least the player archetype of like i want to see corrosaria i want to see him make a hustle play or make a big dunk or athletic player whatever but i feel like i have an idea of some of those archetypes and i have an idea of the archetype of paul and bia but it is so ridiculous how long his

Starting point is 00:06:01 wingspan is like a seven foot nine wingspan that's not normal in the best positive way for k u and i just want to see what that looks like out there not just in terms of like what he looks like but what that looks out there like functionally on a basketball court does the seven nine wings span mean that anybody going up against him just gets their shot blocked or like can't shoot over him does it lead to a lot of rebounds like what exactly does it look like when he is out there and that's one of those things too where it's like whether it's the spring game in football or you know a situation like this where it's a scrimmage in kU basketball sometimes it can be hard to decipher did that player play well or was the guy guarding them not very good it's like again like

Starting point is 00:06:43 the spring game and football if you have a receiver that goes off is it because the receiver is really or is it because the cornerback who was guarding him is really bad? Or is it a little bit of both? You never actually know until you start to face other competition, with the exception of when it's a known quantity. So, like, for instance, if in the spring football game last year, Kobe Bryant would have given up a lot of receiving yards to, I don't know, some newcomer receiver, you would have been like,

Starting point is 00:07:11 oh, we know Kobe Bryant's a good corner. That newcomer receiver is probably pretty good. And that is going back to Paul Mbia, we now there is a little bit of of projection and estimation of what he's going to become but we at least know the the high potential the ceiling and some of those moments are there and we think he's going to have a big year and make a big jump in florid badunga and so if paulambia goes up against florid badunga and you know shows out really well that will be a bit of a takeaway that like hey he stood his own against him that's a great sign for kew's center

Starting point is 00:07:44 rotation that they have two guys they can throw out there and, you know, make a lot of noise. The other guy that I'm most interested to see, so I've talked about a freshman, international player, it's honestly El Marco Jackson. From a standpoint of, you know, he comes off this season ending injury and you've heard so many good things from Bill Self about his athleticism being back and that, you know, how he was such a good like recovery player, I guess, and how hard he worked during the rehab process. And I've always heard great things about El Marco is like,

Starting point is 00:08:14 person and kind of a goofy, like, kid a little bit and just what he is as a person. And so I'm really rooting for him in a lot of ways. And so I just want to see him back out there, you know, playing basketball again after he had that severe injury and just getting him back on the court. That's an awesome story on its own. But then he's going to play a big role on this Kansas basketball team and they need him to step up. So what does that exactly look like when he is out there? Now, I think in general, when you look at an event like this, when you look at it being a scrimmage and everything, like I said earlier, you're probably not going to see a ton of post-ups, probably not going to see a ton of like running plays, running motion offense,

Starting point is 00:08:53 I'm going to see zone defense. What do situations like this enhance? It's athletic plays. And that is something like if you go back and look at the box or if you remember the scrimmages from the last couple of years, they weren't very good. They weren't very entertaining. Like, or some really lighten it up and the shooting percentages. and stuff, like, weren't very good in the games.

Starting point is 00:09:17 And, like, now looking back on it and thinking about it, like, the last couple of years, like, yes, KJ Adams is a, was freak athlete for KU. But, like, overall as the team, KU wasn't like a super athletic team the last couple of years. You know, you think about it last year. Like, Hunter Dickinson was not a good athlete for compared to other centers. Zeke Mayo was not, like, good. Zeke Mayo was good because of a shooting. Hunter Dickinson was good because of his post presence and finesse.

Starting point is 00:09:42 They weren't great players because of their athleticism. KU was not a very athletic team the last couple of years. And I think that translates into a situation like this. Like when it's an open scrimmage, athleticism, and those are the plays you're going to remember, that's going to be what, this is going to be running up and down the floor. The athleticism is going to play. So I want to see a couple of those athleticism plays in an event that should be tailored to athleticism.

Starting point is 00:10:05 I think it's going to be a more exciting scrimmage this year because of that. What are some things we can't learn from late night in the fog? There's probably a lot. We'll also get into KU. Woman's Basketball Season preview. This is Locked on Jayhawks. This episode of the show is brought to you by DoorDash. You might be coming home late from Lake Night in the Fog looking for something.

Starting point is 00:10:26 Boom, you order DoorDash. And it is almost the weekend. Let's crown this week's MVP on who delivered powered by DoorDash, just like you can win every Saturday with DoorDash Streaks, saving more every time you order. These players delivered when it mattered at most. Let's break it down for Kansas. Jalen Daniels delivered in a big way. know Kansas lost big to Texas deck, but it wasn't because of Jalen.

Starting point is 00:10:45 Jalen was awesome, still got sacked nine times, still stuck through it, still was throwing darts down the field, still trying to make things happen, and he played really well for a game that Kansas only put up 17 points against, but probably is the best defensive line in the country. And just like Jalen Daniels delivered for Kansas and has been all season long, DoorDash delivers your Saturdays. So with DoorDash streaks, you save every Saturday you order. Stack it up all season. You could save up to $250, including $100 in DoorDash credits.

Starting point is 00:11:12 this Saturday. Keep your streak alive. Fuel your game day only with DoorDash. Terms apply promo period through November 18th. This episode is also brought to you by Supply House. When the opening whistle blows on a new repair, get your crew moving forward with Supply House. Ordered today and see parts on your doorstep tomorrow. Over 280,000 plumbing, HVAC, and electrical items from the most trusted brands in the business. Their real-time inventory and honest lead times keep you from punting projects while their industry-leading customer service always has your blind side. covered. Their trademaster perks like priority shipping and dedicated support make the whole process smoother. Join the free Trademaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping,

Starting point is 00:11:52 lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit Supplyhouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SH College 5 for 5% off your first order. That's supplyhouse.com, real people, real service with Supplyhouse. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. You can give us follow at D. Johnson Radio at L.O. underscore Jayhawks. Also check out Locked on College basketball for your second listen every day. So I think there's a lot where I'm excited to see and maybe that we can learn at least a little bit from late night. But there's also going to be a lot of stuff we can't exactly learn from. And one of those is if they're a good three-point shooting team or not.

Starting point is 00:12:32 First of all, you go back and I was mentioning the box scores, there's been some ugly three-point shooting games in this late night in the fog event. And sometimes that's indicative of where they are. Sometimes it's not. But regardless, KU could go 10 of 20 as a team, the two sides combined from three in this game. It's a one game sample size with a random inner squad scrimmage. That doesn't mean they're going to be a great three-point shooting team. On the flip side, they could go two for 20, and that doesn't mean they're bad three-point shooting team. Now, certainly rather them go 10 of 20 that would give you at least a small data point to be like,

Starting point is 00:13:07 hey, there was at least one good shooting output for this team. You know, again, that makes you feel better than 0 for 30, for instance. But regardless of how it goes, it's not going to be fully indicative or a fact of like, oh, that's what this team is shooting all season long because of how this one went. I think who's winning like competition battles or starting lineup battles or rotation battles. That's not really something you're going to find out either because this isn't a situation where, again, like an exhibition game where you do have your starting lineup,

Starting point is 00:13:36 where you do have, hey, who's first off the bench, who's playing these minutes. And maybe in an exhibition game, especially when you think of the ones that KU plays against the D2 schools, whether it's Fort Hay State this year or like in some other years, whether you're playing against Washburn or whatever, some of those minutes get more balanced out because if you're blowing them out and then you're trying different things. And so those end up being a little bit more equal throughout. But this one is just not at all like that because you're splitting up your own team into two teams. And so you're going to have some starters on one team, some starters on another team. You're going to have some rotation guys on one team, some rotation guys on one team, some rotation. guys on another team. And yeah, if one, you know, guy beats another who they play the same position on a couple of possessions, okay, maybe you can take at least a little bit from that. But

Starting point is 00:14:19 even then, it's like, is that going to be the deciding factor of why Bill Self starts this guy over that guy or gives this guy more minutes over that guy? No, probably not. It's probably going to be all the practices that they have leading up to the exhibition game against Louisville. And then it's going to be the performance in an actual like game pressure setting against Louisville and the next exhibition. So I don't really think. you'll have a good idea. Like if that's the other thing, you're not going to have an idea of, oh, because this guy is the fifth starter on the blue team versus this guy being

Starting point is 00:14:47 the fifth starter on the Crimson team, he's going to play this many minutes. No, you can't really figure that out from this. I also think, like, this is kind of in that same subject, but you can't really figure out the roles of these specific players. I do think there is a little bit, like, even if we talk about, hey, this player's role is to be three-point shooter, this player's role is to be primary defensive stop, or this player's role is to do this or that. I do think even for us saying that from the playing perspective, probably a lot of the players are still developing that early in the season.

Starting point is 00:15:18 And it probably takes some time to figure that stuff out, especially with a newer team. You're certainly not going to have it in late night in fog, where again, you're splitting your teams up in different directions. But it is a little bit less of like, hey, this is going to be your role on the team. Just go shoot threes and defend or go shoot threes and get rebounds or go get rebounds and block shots or whatever. That's your role. In this event, event, that's not the case. It's out the window. It's like, hey, we're just playing pickup basketball to a certain extent. Like, if I want to grab and go as the center, I'm going to do it. And then in game, you do that, Bill Self's going to pull you. It's just very different situations

Starting point is 00:15:49 and not an exact measure of a role you're going to be playing at KU. But that doesn't mean we can't at least, you know, view some of the things you do well or you look good at and kind of, I don't profile that into, hey, this should be the role that you should play. You're a good three-point shooter. So do that. You're a good defender. So do that. You're athletic. So go in transition, whatever it is, right? And then the last one is, I guess you could actually learn about this a bit in theory, something we mentioned earlier. I just don't expect it given the format would be the post-up scoring. It would be great to see Florida Bedunga have three post-ups in this game and, you know, score hookshot, score on like a drop step and, you know, I don't

Starting point is 00:16:27 know, fade away jumper or something like that. It'd be great to see what he can do or pass out of a double team in the post or something. Are they going to be doubling in this event? I don't know. That probably won't happen. So that's one less thing you can kind of take away from this too. But like, how often are you really going to get the ball in the post in this game? Most of the buckets that are scored by, you know, Badunga or MBA are probably going to be dunks. They're going to be alley-oops. They're going to be offensive rebound putbacks. That would just be my assumption or I don't know, something kind of similar to that. And even then, even if we're talking like, oh, because you get three post-ups, again, you're talking small sample size, are we going to all

Starting point is 00:17:03 a sudden say because if Florida Bedunga gets three postups and looks pretty good on him, oh my gosh, he's Akeem Elijah one. Oh my gosh, he's Hunter Dickinson offensively now. No, we're not going to quite do that. So I don't know how much you're going to learn from the postup. But yeah, maybe there is at least one highlight of a postup that makes you think, oh, that was enough of the flash. That was enough to make me think there's more there. And this could be exciting where this could go. All right, let's finish up on the show here with a little KU women's basketball season preview. This is locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode of L.O.J. is brought to you by Ruggiet. What do you do when you have a bald

Starting point is 00:17:39 eagle standing on top of a silverback gorilla riding a T-Rex confidence, pure confidence? If you're looking for something beyond the usual pill, it's time to meet Rougiette Go Long. That's exactly where Rougiet's Go-Long comes in. This isn't just another E.D. pill. It's total game changer for confidence. Go-Long combines two doctor-trusted medications in one dual-action formula, so you can get hard and go the distance. The effects can last up to 30, six hours. That's confidence all day, all night, and even into the next day. The process is simple. Connect with a board certified doctor, 100% online, and if prescribed, your treatment ships discreetly right to your door. If prescribed, your treatment ships discreetly to your door,

Starting point is 00:18:17 ready to level up your confidence in the bedroom, head to rougiette.com, R-U-G-I-E-T-com, and use promo code locked on college for 15% off your first order. That's rougiat.com, R-U-G-I-E-T-com, promo code locked on college. Make sure you use our code so they know we sent you. This episode of the show is also brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook where you can get Darren Peterson 10 to one odds to win the wooden award in the preseason. Plus the NFL season's here. College football season is here. We got NHL season going on, NBA is right around the corner and we got a movie playoffs going on. You only get so many octobers in your life. Well, right now new customers can bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win to use on October. And then

Starting point is 00:19:01 November after that. So pick a bet, put down five bucks. If it hits, you'll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. That's a lot that you can use on futures, Kansas 25 to 1 to win the national title in basketball. So what are you waiting for? Visit fanduel.com to download the fanduop today and get started. FanDuel, the official sports book partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:19:26 Check out some of our other KU basketball content throughout the week here. Talked a lot about what Bill Self had to say. say on yesterday's episode. Next week, we'll have KU Men's Basketball Media Day. We will have KU Louisville exhibition game talk. We'll have some KU football talk. Obviously, it's a big one with K-State. So plenty coming at you next week with Locked on Jayhawks as well as the rest of this episode.

Starting point is 00:19:45 So the KU Women's Basketball team, they come into this year with the number one recruiting class in the Big 12 in 2025, number one. And you could make the argument that they are going to have, you know, one of the best players in the country, too. And Samaya Nichols now entering year three as a junior. So you combine number one. and number one, that should be a pretty good combo for KU. But they were picked sixth in the Big 12 preseason poll, which last year, Iowa State finished

Starting point is 00:20:12 seventh in the Big 12th. There were three teams tied fourth through sixth. Iowa State at seventh ended up making the NCAA tournament the playing game and winning a playing game. Kansas, again, the year before, with a tie fourth through sixth in the league, finished seventh, and that Kansas team ended up winning a tournament game, too. And so you look at this and being picked sixth is like if you finish where you're picked here, that probably means you're an NCAA tournament team with a chance to win an NCAA tournament game.

Starting point is 00:20:43 Well, I think that would be a great season for KU and would also set them up that if you can get that level of experience this year, and then you look to the year after that when this number one recruiting class would then be sophomores. And Samaya Nichols would be a senior. That's when you could really have that kind of big breakout season. But Nichols leads the way. She was first team all big 12 last year. 18.6 points per game on 46, 38 splits, so 46 from the field, 38 from 3, really good there. 4.7 assists per game.

Starting point is 00:21:09 She is one of the best players in the sport. And honestly, the, I don't know, combination, I guess you would say, of her along with, I don't know, like, if we're doing a cross sport thing, her along with, like, Darren Peterson, I'd be curious to know, is there another school in the country who can match Darren Peterson? in men's basketball, Samaya Nichols and Women's, with that being their top duo or top individual player of both. But regardless, Leia Conessa comes back to, she started 25 games, 7.4 points,

Starting point is 00:21:45 3.4 rebounds per game, kind of a ball-moving point card to play alongside her, 29 minutes per game. So Nichols will initiate a lot, but Conessa can kind of play off her and play point card a little bit. And you've got an all freshman pick, turning into a sophomore, and Reagan Williams,

Starting point is 00:22:00 nine points per game last season. And if she can take a jump forward, if Samaya Nichols takes the jump forward, Leia Canessa takes the jump forward, and you get that number one recruiting class to really start making impacts right away, similar to how Smaya Nichols did, her first year of Kansas,

Starting point is 00:22:17 how Reagan Williams did, her first year of Kansas, you're going to be cooking with something. So these are the freshmen to kind of watch out for. Jolaya Davis, I don't know if it's Jolia. July, she is KU's highest rated accrued since 2007. She was in McDonald's, All-American. And we've seen the success that, again, Samaya Nichols has had. Well, guess what? Davis was

Starting point is 00:22:35 ranked higher than her as an incoming recruit. That's big time. Then you have a four-star and Tatiana Brown. She could get real run at center for KU, which they've kind of been trying to figure out since losing Tiana Jackson. Libby Fandel was Miss Iowa basketball. She was five points shy of 2000 in her career, so like she can make an impact right away. Keeley Parks is a two-time Gatorade State player of the year as well. And so if Davis is a stud right away, and then they get like, let's say two solid, like year one rotation players out of the rest, which maybe it's even all four, that's a solid place to be. And then from there, you just need to garner some depth from somewhere.

Starting point is 00:23:11 It could be from those freshmen. It could be from returning players. It could be from the transfer portal. And so I think when you look at it, like the goal of this team should be to make the NCAA tournament. They have enough talent to do it. Now, then experience are probably going to lose a few games that maybe you normally wouldn't because of that.

Starting point is 00:23:26 But like, you have the talent to at least get back to the NCAA tournament. And if you can do that, it serves it quite. the springboard to the following season when again in 2026 to 2027, senior year Samaya Nichols, junior year Reagan Williams, sophomore years of all these freshman recruits and KU has another good recruiting class coming in right now with a couple big time commits, including a top 100 player for the following class. So that's really the, I think you would say, the target year you're going for. But to set yourself best up and get the best experience and get that winning culture going, I think it's important to get back to the NCAA tournament this year. But I think they

Starting point is 00:24:00 have the talent to do just that. All right, that'll know for this episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks, so you can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. We'll be back for a postcast of late night in the fog for KU Basketball. Later, see you then on LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - LATE NIGHT IN THE PHOG: Darryn Peterson's Debut, Paul Mbiya's Arms, Elmarko Jackson's Return & More

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