Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - MIDTERMS: Self-Scouting Melvin Council, Tre White & Jamari McDowell | Kansas Jayhawks Surprises

Episode Date: December 27, 2025

Kansas Jayhawks fans are buzzing as Melvin Council, Tre White, and Jamari McDowell exceed preseason expectations and inject new life into Bill Self’s squad. Can Council’s elite assist-to-turnover ...ratio and clutch performances against Tennessee and NC State help propel KU through a challenging Big 12 slate?Derek Johnson breaks down Kansas’s surprising statistical standouts, highlighting Council’s defensive disruption, White’s all-around offensive efficiency and rebounding, and McDowell’s growth as a three-point threat and defensive asset. With in-depth analysis of advanced metrics, game impact, and player development, the podcast spotlights how these newcomers have become essential to the Jayhawks’ identity and future lineup possibilities. Will this trio continue to shape Kansas’s championship hopes as the season heats up?Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Through the non-conference portion of the season, KU's had some pleasantly surprising performances from Melvin Council, Trey White, and Jamari McDowell. We're going to break down their mid-season profiles and kind of self-scout some of the players through this point of the season. You are Locked-on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.
Starting point is 00:00:30 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. And thank you to the everydayers catching each and every episode of the show. We are free and available anywhere you, your podcast, including on our YouTube page. And thank you for making the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. On this episode of the show, we're doing a little self-scouting.
Starting point is 00:00:51 This will be a part of a three-part series. We're going to be talking about some of the pleasant surprises today with Melvin Council, Trey White, Jemari McDowell. We're going to break down each of their games, some deep statistics, areas that they've excelled, are they exceeding expectations? All of those questions will start with Melvin Council. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook. We're right in the middle of the action this season, especially with live betting. Go to fanduel.com, place your NFL live bets all season long with Fanduel.
Starting point is 00:01:19 Okay, so we're going to start with Melvin Council today. And the series today starts off with players that have been pleasant surprises. And Melvin Council has certainly been one of them. I mean, I think a lot of us like the fit of counsel coming in. I know there were some questions, but for the most part, liked it. But it even feels like to me, he's kind of exceeded expectations. 13 points per game for counsel this year, over four rebounds per game, over five assists per game. He's doing it compared to just 1.4 turnovers per game.
Starting point is 00:01:45 It's really good assist to turnover numbers there. And he's getting one block, half a steal per game. The field goal percentage, not too great. 39%. Three point percentage, though, has certainly risen recently to 36%. and the free throw percentage solid at 73% from Melvin Counsel. And obviously, he was as key as any player on this KU team in KU's two biggest coin flip wins during the non-con.
Starting point is 00:02:07 The Tennessee game was Counsel and El Marco Jackson really taken over. And then you look at the NC State game where he basically wins KU that game, right? Now, counsel, one of the things that I find very interesting about his game so far is how well he has done at avoiding you know, turnovers so far. Because you think of the comp that was given to him in the non-conference,
Starting point is 00:02:33 or not the non-conference in the preseason of Tyshawn Taylor. And one of the things as great as Tyshaun Taylor was, especially for KU at the end there, there were games where the turnover numbers got a little high. That's never been the case for Melvin Council throughout his career,
Starting point is 00:02:45 and he's been able to carry that over to his time at Kansas. He right now is in the 97th percentile in assist to turnover ratio. That is one of those numbers that certainly jumps out to me. Another number is he's in the number is he's in the 94th percentile in minutes per game for a Kansas team that with Peterson
Starting point is 00:03:00 Hurt needs him to play more minutes. He's been able to accomplish that, which is made more amazing with the role he's having to play right now with Peterson out of offense and also the role he's playing defensively with typically guarding one of the best guards on the opposing team. He's getting the steel numbers better recently, nine steals over the last four games after having like four in the first eight. So that's something to kind of keep an eye on. Can that continue into the second half of the season? He's in the 84th percent off. for guards in block rate. So if you get the steals to come with it,
Starting point is 00:03:30 he's going to be one of the most, I guess, chaos creating guards that is out there. And obviously, you're looking for him to do better from two-point shots in the second half of the season. We'll get to that in a moment here. But certainly he's excelled in the fast break, right? 84th percentile and fast break points per game for Melvin Council so far. Now, if we do take a look at his shooting and where he's getting things done right now,
Starting point is 00:03:52 he's been really good from the above the break area from three point range he's shooting 38.3% on above the break threes this year he's 0 for 3 from the corner but 18 of 47 from above the break he struggled a little bit more in all of the other zones so the above the break three point shooting being 38% that's in the 72nd percentile nationally his next best zone if we look at where it compares nationally would be in the paint which would make sense because he's got that you know he's got a solid floater game Even then he's missed a fair amount, 35% in that floater area. That's 41st percent on nationally.
Starting point is 00:04:28 So below average there at the rim. That's one that you're looking at, you know, can that improve in the second half of the season? He's at 53.5% at the rim this year. Mid-range 2 is just 23.5% the limited sample at 4 of 17. If he can have some of the, and here's the rub. I mean, if you're looking at like the analytic side of things, there's a number called at-rim plus threes, which is basically just, I mean, it is what it sounds. like right it's a combination of how you're shooting at the rim and on three point shots which are
Starting point is 00:04:57 two of the most efficient shots you can have analytically well he's in the 59th percentile there so on the efficient shots that mostly carried by the three point shooting he is at least above average there and when you pair the you know if you're going to be above average or if you're going to right now be shooting well from three looking for improvement from two but you're really good at getting assisted turnovers you're really good at initiating the offense you're really fast you're good in transition, which is something, you know, this team, when it's at its best is kind of thriving on when you're doing all of those things and you're playing the minutes load that he's being asked to play and you're guarding, you know, one of the team's best players each and every
Starting point is 00:05:35 night and usually doing so in a very real impactful way, that's how you become a really impactful player. And it's always interesting, too, as you look at some of the numbers through non-conference play, you can end up in a situation where if you're looking at you're looking at into like on-off numbers or what's the best lineup or stuff like that. Like sometimes that can get crowded a little bit by the idea that some of the buy games that you've played can, right, if you beat a team by 30, but it's a buy game, like that's going to do a lot for the on-off numbers if you did or didn't have a good game and that one versus the games that mattered more.
Starting point is 00:06:13 And so that's why like the games that mattered more to me, Tennessee and NC State, he played really well. But maybe in some of the buy games, it wasn't as good. I bring that up because if you look at some of the overall season numbers, you might end up with like certain things that favor. Okay, Florida Bedunga and his impact and stuff. But Florey has certainly had some big games against lesser opponents, but against better opponents,
Starting point is 00:06:34 there have been some moments where it hasn't been great against North Carolina and NC State. And that hasn't been the case with Melvin Council. And I do think he deserves credit for that in a very real way for KU. And so like you're looking at it right now. If you look at on-off net rating for Melvin Council, it's basically a net equal, right? But like I said, I don't think that is the best way of looking at it when you look at some of the buy games recently. I could also point out that over the last five games, Melvin Council, Kansas right now, is 46 points per 100 possessions better over the last five games with Melvin Council is on the floor.
Starting point is 00:07:12 How about that? That is the 100th percentile nationally. So over the last five games, Melvin Council is the most impactful player in the country. That's what that tells you, just at least over that, you know, last five games. So that's kind of cool to kind of point out. But I guess that's important to note as you kind of look through some of these games. But counsel overall, like if we get to the bottom line question here, which is better, worse, or the same from what we expected coming in to the preseason, right? What do they expect of the noncon?
Starting point is 00:07:39 I think it's clearly better to me. Like I was expecting counsel to play a big role in this team, be a starter, be arguably the team's best perimeter defender, you know, have a good. good assist to turnover ratio and stuff, but I think the three-point shooting because of this recent barrage has been better so far than I expected. I think the two-point shooting hasn't been as good as I expected. The system turnover has lived up if not exceeded expectations. The rebounding numbers are maybe even better than I could have expected. But the team impact, I think, is what, you know, being the soul of the team, being a fan favorite, being like all these things that represent what this team kind of is right now, the dog-like mentality, those are all things
Starting point is 00:08:21 that exceed expectation. And, you know, we did our play rankings. We had Trey White one. We had Melvin Counsel 2. Thank you, the everydayers, if you already caught that one, to this point in the season. And the fact that he's in that discussion that you could make an argument that he could be number one, I think that on its own exceeds expectation, right? So I think been very, very impressed with what he is, he's brought to the table here. So Melvin Council exceeding expectations, I think is kind of the theme of today's show. And it'll be interesting, too, like what the impact, the resounding impact of this is moving forward for Bill Self, you know, because you look at some of the recent additions they've had that haven't worked out from the transfer portal. And counsel did work out.
Starting point is 00:09:08 And, you know, it's easy to say, oh, get the guys who are a little less heralded. but have the right like because nick tousson or in nick timberlake didn't work coming from you know the same level of league essentially maybe a little lower than than what melvin council is in but the difference is council athletically like kind of belongs i i don't know if there's a lesson to kind of learn from this let's get to tray white and kind of deep dive into what his game's been in the first half of the season this is locked on jahawks to you by Fanduel Sportsbook and you can get in on action during
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Starting point is 00:10:57 locked on every day or Discord server, which includes a group chat for listeners of this show. And you can check that out again with our link here that's in the show notes, if that's easiest for you, or if you want to write this down, locked onpodcast.com slash everydayer. Okay, up next is Trey White. Trey White has been another pleasant prize, I would say, so far for KU. Not in that again. You thought Trey White was going to come in and be an impactful, helpful player for KU. And then Bill Self talked about him throughout the offseason being one of KU's best players.
Starting point is 00:11:26 But you didn't know exactly what that would mean. Was he just going to be solid? Or the guy we've seen right now is like all big 12 level player, right? He's been awesome. 14 and a half points per game, seven rebounds per game, over two assists per game. He's shooting 52 from the field, 43 from three. and 86 at the foul line. He's been excellent for KU to this point.
Starting point is 00:11:46 You look at some of the advanced numbers. He's an 83rd percentile in all RAPM, which is basically CBB analytics, like all-encompassing number that they look at. I know like Evan Mia has like one of these, basically. So White's been really good there. He's in the 98th percentile in win shares per 40 minutes. He's in the 96th percentile nationally in P.E.R. 99th percentile
Starting point is 00:12:09 and wins above replacement players. So, like, everywhere you look, Trey White has been excellent so far this season for KU. And what's made him so good, I mean, the efficiency on its own, 91st percentile, effective field goal percentage, 97th percentile in true shooting percentage. He's doing it from all over. We'll get to the shooting, you know, different areas here in a second. But he's also rebounding the ball. 95th percentile in offensive rebound rate.
Starting point is 00:12:33 Now, this looks at it for, I'm trying to see what he's classified as here, because CBB analytics does classify those is based on the position. that it gives you. So I don't know if that's being listed as a guard or a wing or what, but point being 95th percentile for his position at offensive rebound rate. He's in the 90th percentile for defensive rebound rate. And that was something earlier in the season he wasn't getting a ton of, but then started to ramp it up.
Starting point is 00:12:55 And now he's been nails, grabbing rebounds for KU all the time. We know he gets the free throw line a lot. Sometimes sells it does a pretty good job of doing that. He's in the 95th percentile in free throw attempt rate. And he's knocking him down when he's getting to the free throw line as well. So that's kind of a good combo. to be on for sure he also has done a really good job um is scoring in transition which is kind of a theme with a lot of these kU players 3.3 fast break points per 40 minutes that is in the 76 percentile
Starting point is 00:13:24 nationally he's somebody who you don't have to always draw a playup for because he's in the 95th percentile in second chance points per 40 minutes so far this season um and then he's in the 83rd percentile for his position for block rate so he you just look all the way through like KU has really good block numbers per position for like everybody on the roster, basically. And it obviously helps with having guys like Flore and Tiller leading the way there. But it's just a very well-rounded game for White that also has the ability on a specific night for KU to carry the offense and give them 20, 25 points. And we even saw that in one of the games with Darren Peterson there.
Starting point is 00:13:59 In the game against Missouri, Trey White was arguably KU's best player. You know, he puts up like 20 points. I think he was 23 against Missouri. He was great in that game for Kansas. So, Trey White has been awesome for KU. If you're looking at, you know, what can he improve over the second half of the season? He's in the 36 percentile in turnover rate. And that has been a number that's going up recently over his last five.
Starting point is 00:14:21 He's in the 24th percentile. So can you, can you lessen the turnovers a little bit here if you're Trey White? Not a huge steel number necessarily. That's something I've talked about a lot that, like, I want to see this Kansas team force more steals in general. So, you know, he would be a part of that 35th percentile steel rate. get that up more toward, you know, 50th percentile, so to speak. Do you want to see the three-point usage get up to a little bit, right? He's shooting so well from three.
Starting point is 00:14:48 He's shooting 43 percent from three. Should he be ranking higher than being in the 40th percentile and three-point attempt rate? 38th percent on three-point attempts per 40 minutes? Or is part of the reason he's shooting so well because he's doing a good job of being selective of when exactly he needs to do it. I think that's kind of an interesting question or debate. You could kind of pose yourself. As far as where he's shooting the ball well, you look right now, he's getting to the rim at a very good rate.
Starting point is 00:15:16 He's in the 86 percentile in the amount of his shots, basically, that are coming at the rim. And he's shooting them at 66 percent in the 66 percentile. So he's getting to the rim. He's making them at a high number. And that doesn't even account for the fact that some of those are leading to him getting fouled a lot and going to the free throw line. And that's a super fit. Like, I don't think people realize how efficient sometimes. just getting to the free throw line is because even if you go one of two at the free throw
Starting point is 00:15:41 line, which means you're not a very good free throw shooter, if you shoot 50% at the free throw line, one of two at the free throw line is one point per possession. And like, that's actually not a bad number to be. Like there are games where Kansas is going to wind up less than one. I'm going to actually see right now if they've been below probably this year, probably with some the games they played. Yeah, so the Connecticut, the Yukon game. KU was at, let's see, basically 0.898.9, basically if we want to round up, 0.9 points per possession in the Yukon game. So that would be basically the Duke game, they were at one point per possession. And that would be a 50% free throw shooter.
Starting point is 00:16:20 So now if you're 65%, like it just becomes so valuable. So he's been so valuable in doing that. He has only taken 12 shots in the paint, which is a very low amount. She's only taking six mid-range shots. That feels low as well. So only 18, but that's a good thing. like you want him shooting at the rim or from three he's been better above the break than from the corner from the corner four of 13 smaller sample size 31 percent he's been scorching above the break 45.4 percent above the break from three on 15 of 31 shooting and a lot of them have come kind of on those wing areas the free throw line extended areas from outside the three point range that's where he's really excelled um so far this season now when you look at some of the uh on off numbers for tray white so far this season uh as you would imagine, they're pretty good, right?
Starting point is 00:17:07 So, so far this season, actually, I take that back. It's kind of a similar thing of Melvin Council, where if you look at the full season, it's equal. And that would be because of some of the early season stuff, right? I was looking at the wrong column here. So if we do the same thing for Melvin Council, the same kind of conversation I was having here, if we just look at the last five games for Trey White,
Starting point is 00:17:29 he now goes to an 89th percentile in net rating. So again, I think some of the early games crowded this a little bit. Like if we go off the last 10 games, he's in the 65th percentile, getting blown out in the second half by North Carolina or one of the early games against like Texas A&M, Corpus Christi or Green Bay where like Florey's the one doing all the stuff and you're winning big, that's going to crowd kind of the numbers there. Point being, I do think the difference of having trade weight versus not is pretty incredulous when you view not really having another wing on the roster. I mean, he's Calderon in theory, but he's not part of the rotation. And obviously, for KU, it helps. They're playing more too big basketball.
Starting point is 00:18:11 So you have somebody else to play minutes at the four with Bryson Tiller. But he's a very, very valuable player on this roster. And when you combine the efficiency, the ability to get to the rim, make shots of the rim, get to the free throw line, shoot well from three, rebound the basketball, pass it a little bit, can play the three or the four when you don't have a lot of those guys on the roster. I don't know that. I've viewed Trey White as being this like unbelievable defender, but I have never, I haven't so far this season viewed him as being like a poor defender. At the very least, he's got to be
Starting point is 00:18:42 average above average is what it kind of feels like to me on the defensive end, if not better, because KU overall has been pretty good. So again, the question, exceed expectations, add expectations are below. It succeed, right? I expected him to come in. I expected him to contribute in a lot of ways and score 10, 11, 12 points per game and grab, you know, 5, 6, 7 rebounds per game. I didn't see this level of numbers where he looks like a, I don't know. I'm hesitant to say this, like Jalen Wilson, because he was a first team all American. It's not quite to that level with the numbers, but it's like a mini Jalen Wilson and what he has been able to do and how impactful he has been for KU. And he's been a fun player to watch for sure. Just makes you think, like,
Starting point is 00:19:23 if you would have stayed with his commitment to KU out of high school, you know, and who knows, guys developed differently. So maybe the path that led him here is the one that he needed to get to this point but like would he have become jalen wilson would this season have been you know last year and then i don't know it's impossible to say but this year's been great to see for k u and tray white all right let's finish up with another pleasant surprise jammari mcdowell this episode of the show is brought to you by game time college basketball season is about to ramp up here over the last couple months of the season before march whether it's the energy the bands the moments you remember forever inside the arena actually getting tickets though man that part used to be first
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Starting point is 00:21:16 Our final player today is Jamari McDowell, another pleasant surprise for KU. He has played on all 13 games for KU. He's started five games now, playing 18 minutes per game. All of those are probably more than we would have expected. Now, the raw numbers like, you know, getting around five points per game. game. It's not something that jumps off the page. Certainly his impact and how much he has played has been a nice, pleasant surprise for KU. You look at some of the advanced numbers, 73rd percentile in RAPM. He's in 86th percentile in DRAPM, so the defensive side of it, 78 percentile
Starting point is 00:21:47 on winchairs per 40, 62nd percentile on the offense, 91st on defense. He's in the 62nd percentile wins above replacement player. And basically what he's done has been, I think, exactly what KU wants him to do. I mean, we can point to some of these things and be like, well, you know, he's not really shooting twos and he's not really making twos. He's not really scoring much in fast break or grabbing rebounds for KU. But the main role that Kansas is asking him to play is on offense, don't screw things up, hit an open three, and on defense, just defend your butt off and then make hustle plays in between on both ends. I feel like he's done that. Like you go back to the Tennessee game. And I think there were times where like Melvin Council was on Jacobi
Starting point is 00:22:31 Gillespie for Tennessee. But the majority of defender on him was Jemari McAhill. And what did Gillespie go? I'm trying to, it was like 4th 18 or something like that. So that just shows kind of his defensive value. And then you look at it. He's in the 90th percentile and effective field goal percentage. Why? Because he's shooting the threes that are asked of him. He's making him. He's so far this year shooting 42.4% from three. And he's doing it on a 99th percentile three point attempt rate. So basically, KU is like, hey, don't be shy to take threes. That's what you're out here for. He's like, all right, I'll take him. He's making them at a very high clip. And that's exactly what you want from him. So again, we could talk about, well, I'd like to see the steel rate as I
Starting point is 00:23:10 would for the entire team go up, you know, 50th percentile. If you're out there for defense, get it to the 60th. Who knows? But its defensive impact is still there, even without the steals. I could talk about, okay, could you get your turnover rate from the 44th percentile? Could you make that a little better? If you're a lower usage player, could you make a little better. That's fair. Could you grab a few extra rebounds, right? You're in the 20th percentile for defensive rebound rate, 25th percentile for offensive rebound rate. But also like, that's not really your role, you know? It's like you have Trey White, Bryson Tiller, and Florida but don't get out there. Those are the guys going for the rebounds. You need to get back on defense.
Starting point is 00:23:43 So I don't know, man. I feel like he's just kind of perfecting the role that you would want him to play. And that's kind of all you're asking of him. So I, my, My second half for Jamar and McDowell is just keep doing what you're doing, right? Can you keep up the 42% from three? Can you at least keep it close, right? Can you shoot 38% in the second half? Continue to not be trigger shy. Continue to hit big threes.
Starting point is 00:24:10 Continue to play good defense. Continue to hustle. Continue to make those plays. If you continue to do those things, there's a role for you on the team. And sure, the minutes per game, it goes down if Darren Peterson's back, but you still have a role on the team. You still are playing double-digit minutes per game. You're still part of the rotation, even if he is back.
Starting point is 00:24:25 Now, if Peterson does end up missing more time or the rest of the season or whatever it would end up being, then maybe we can have a conversation of, okay, can you get a little bit more out of Jamarie McDowell? But as of right now, like, if he's kind of hit this role very perfectly so far for KU. And it's interesting too, because you look at the on-off numbers for him, like the KU defense is in the 80th percentile for the on-off numbers when he's defend, basically the derating when he's on the floor. I didn't phrase that very well. Basically, his on-off defensive rating, the team gets nine points per 100 possessions better on the defensive end when he's on the floor. So that's very helpful for KU, right, that he can be out there and be a defender in a real way. Now, the offense goes down.
Starting point is 00:25:14 A big part of that, though, is usually when he's out there more. It's because Peterson's not playing. So the offense isn't going to be as good when he's not out there. But he's at least succeeding in, you know, that. way for KU. And if we look at over the last five games, the impact has dwindled at least a little bit here. But overall in the season, it's been a pleasant surprise what he's provided because I think we went into the season with Jamari kind of under the impression of like, okay, he's going to be on the outside looking into the rotation. Maybe he'll play some spot
Starting point is 00:25:43 minutes. And then in some of the exhibitions, he plays a little more than you would expect, but it's kind of like, okay, maybe it's just, you know, giving him the opportunity. And throughout the season, whether it was injuries, I think of Jane Dawson, Darren Peterson, whether it was guys not fully capitalizing on the playing time they were getting like Cole Rosario, it just opened the door for him. And he kept, he kept just, I don't know, keeping a high floor when he would come out there and play. And he cracked the rotation. And I think this is more than you can ask about him. And now you kind of look at the future of Jamari McDowell and maybe he gets you a little excited because he's a red shirt sophomore and like, you know, if it never surpasses more than like being a
Starting point is 00:26:23 good quality role player, good quality bench player, but you get two more years out of that, that's still kind of nice, man. Because in today's day and age, like with the transfer portal, if you have to go out there and every single time bring in a new player just to be your potential sixth or seventh man, that's going to be costly. I mean, it's not going to be as impactful. Like if you get a program guy who, and maybe Jamar McDowell, I mean, we've seen him start this year.
Starting point is 00:26:50 So like, shoot, Richard sophomore, Richard Senior. does Jamarie McDowell end up starting and maybe ends up being like a really good three point shooter and I mean he is right now um really good three and D guy who's your perfect like fourth or fifth compliment on the floor I mean shoot it KU's talking about trying to get like tyrant Stokes right we fast forward year I know that's not the purpose of this that we're fast forward in your year but like if you'll line up where tyrant Stokes is at the three and bryson tiller's back at the four and and florrie bedung goes back at the five I know some of this takes projection and florrie might be off to the NBA and you got to land tyrant Stokes and yada yada yada that would be a really fun
Starting point is 00:27:22 big lineup that would do a lot of things well, but shooting and spacing would be a question. Wouldn't it be nice to have a role player like Jamar McDowell who can slide in at the two next of those guys and be like, hey, I'm going to hit threes, especially playing next to Taylor and Kenny who can hit threes. Maybe it's Colorsario, but you get the point. Having program guys who like being in the program who can at least be role players, that can be super beneficial. And that's what you found this year and developed with Jamari McDowell.
Starting point is 00:27:49 And I think that's another piece of this too, right? with all the focus that's been put straightforward on the transfer portal and all the focus that's put on high school recruiting and getting one and done recruits and getting NBA guys. What have we known Bill Self for over the many years that he's had so much success of Kansas? It's developing program guys, whether that's developing them to be a Jamarie trailer who's your first big off the bench and can give you quality minutes as a first big off the bench or developing a guy who breaks out later in their career to more than you expected when you first got it. those have been the fundamental pillars and foundations of how Bill Self has had as much
Starting point is 00:28:27 success as he's had at Kansas. And it feels like we haven't had that in a few years. It feels like with like, like DeWan Harris wins a national championship, but that version of DeWan Harris and the senior year of DeWan Harris, it felt like, you know, pretty close to the same guy. We're seeing that development again. And I think that's a good thing for KU. So yeah, exceeded expectations, short answer there.
Starting point is 00:28:50 All right, we've got two more versions of this coming out on later in the week. So make sure to subscribe to the show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. And we'll also get you ready for Big 12 play for Kansas, kind of take a look at what is their path to getting everything done that they need to get done and trying to compete or possibly even win in a very, very difficult Big 12 this year. All right, that'll do for this episode of the show. You can find us anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page. See you next time on LOJ.

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