Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - NOT DONE? Bill Self Looking for a Steal to Round Out Kansas Jayhawks Basketball's Roster

Starting point is 00:00:00 Bill Self made it sound like KU might have another trick up their sleeve. Could there be another roster edition in tow for this offseason for the Jayhawks? 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 up, Derek Johnson here? This is another episode of Locked on Jayhawks. And on today's episode of the show, we're going to be breaking down Rock Truck Rumball Classic Week and some of the latest of what Bill Self had to say about KU,

Starting point is 00:00:35 as Leroyd-Blyden, Christian Reeves, a lot to talk about with those guys, Tyron Stokes even. But we're going to start right here with a very interesting quote. This was the question posed to Bill Self at a charity golf event by Henry Greenstein of the Lawrence Journal World in KUsports.com. He said, do you think you're done with the roster, right? Very point-blank question. And I've seen some people running with this under the guise of like,

Starting point is 00:01:02 oh, well, it sounds like the roster is done. and I don't agree with that at all based on the answer here. Here was Bill Self's answer, in fact, to that question, do you think you're done with the roster? No. And then he took about a one to two second pause. So there's your answer right there. Is Bill Self done with the roster?

Starting point is 00:01:18 No, he's not. Now, did he shoot down any ideas of making some like big, gigantic, you know, addition? Most likely, yes, but I do find there's a little out in there. So let's go through this whole quote, right? So again, do you think you're done with the roster? Bill Self answers. no, pause.

Starting point is 00:01:36 And then he says, do I think we're done with significant roster changes? Probably, right? He later goes on to say, as part of the quote, continues talking a little bit. He says, can we get a steal? Absolutely. We'll try to do that. But the reality is the big plays are done. Okay.

Starting point is 00:01:52 So again, like the end there, we'll try to do that. But the reality is the big plays are done. That continues to kind of cement the idea that like, don't be expecting KU to be land in, you know, some international. player who's supposed to be like a lottery pick in the in the 2027 NBA draft or something. That's probably the best way to interpret that, right? But also when he said, do I think we're done with significant roster changes? Probably he didn't say 100%.

Starting point is 00:02:21 He said, probably that would be leaning toward one way. Does that imply that if a donor steps up and gives me the right amount of money that may be one other big move or is that just implying? because again, if you go to the second part of the quote where it's, we'll try to do that. But the reality is the big plays are done, maybe significant roster change could just refer to somebody who could be good enough to be in the rotation, right? So there's multiple ways about putting that. But the most important part here is him saying, no, we're not done with the roster.

Starting point is 00:02:51 And can we get a steal? Absolutely. Those are the two things. And this is something we've been talking about this offseason so far. I look to the past few years of the KU basketball roster build. and you look to a couple of seasons ago when Diggy Coyt was transferring from Northern Illinois. I think he initially committed to another school and wound up. I don't know what actually happened there.

Starting point is 00:03:15 If the grades didn't transfer, for whatever reason, it just didn't work out. So he found himself available still on the market and Kansas scooped him up. I forget, it might have been like the last week of July, early August, something like that. But it was later in the game. And Kansas brought him in and, you know, you got a rotation player. You got a bench player out of Degie Coit that wound up probably exceeding expectations a little bit there, right? That worked out for you. The year before, you get Johnny Furphy in, like, August as a reclass player from the previous year.

Starting point is 00:03:45 And that's one that you get in August. And he ends up, you know, by the time January hits, February hits, Kevin McCuller's hurt. And he ends up being one of your more important players on the team. He ends up going to the NBA afterwards and becomes a second round pick into the NBA draft. Right. So, like, that's another situation of it working out. for KU, not just making a late roster edition, but it working out for KU. If you're viewing it as like you're expecting this late roster edition to be one of your best

Starting point is 00:04:10 players, I don't know that I would go that far, but can it be a player who is in the rotation? Yeah, I think that's what that would show you, right? And even if you want to look at Colrosario, that was, gosh, when did Cole commit? That might have been like a June or July thing. It certainly wasn't August. Maybe that was earlier summer, but still, that felt like a little later in the game. Paul and Bia was certainly a little bit later in the game after. he decommitted for NC State and came to Kansas.

Starting point is 00:04:34 So both of those would be a little later in the offseason game for KU last year. And now we're talking about those players returning for this year's rotation players. So like point being, we have seen a lot of late moves over the recent offseason for KU to get that one final edition to get those, you know, one or two final additions for KU. They do still have two scholarships available at this point in time, which means they do have the opportunity to do it. But again, can we get a steal? Absolutely. that becomes the key piece of this, right? And when he's talking about can we get a steal,

Starting point is 00:05:06 I think in general that is probably most referring to from a money perspective, right, from a monetary standpoint, right? Because at this point in time, I think what your hope would be is that if somebody has not committed to a school yet, is it because they were maybe asking for too much money and now they're going to have to lower the price? or, you know, are they going to get in a situation now where all these scholarships and rosters have been filled across the country for a majority of rosters and they're going to

Starting point is 00:05:37 have to go, hey, I have to decide. Like, there's less schools and less offers out there for me to decide. Maybe I'll take a little bit less to go to Kansas and be in that opportunity, you know, to where the less offers and options and money that is on the table, the more, if you don't have as much money, the more you can become appealing to land one of those, right? So I think it almost becomes a waiting game. It almost becomes a game of chicken with Bill Self and like another agent. Like maybe there's another player. I think, I don't know, like Tijon Singh comes to mind for me, not necessarily that the Kansas has interest or that would be one, just in terms of the example here. We did a deep dive on T. John saying he's a scoring guard from Weber State and interesting player,

Starting point is 00:06:20 but he's still available in the portal. And the more it goes where he hasn't committed somewhere, the more you do start to wonder like, hey, could this be the type of guy that would have to fall in somebody's lap? Because we get to, you know, late July and he hasn't picked to school. And, you know, he's just going to have to go somewhere. You know what I mean? Like kind of like the diggy-coid situation, right? Like, that would be kind of a perfect example and perfect fit for Kansas here. So this does give me hope that there will be kind of another edition.

Starting point is 00:06:47 I think if you're looking at like what makes the most sense for Kansas to add, if you are looking at one more edition, again, they could make two. again, it's going to come down to the monetary aspects. But I think adding another ball handler would make some sense, right? Like whether it's the G and Gala role, which is you're not really going to play in games until it's mop-up time, but it gives us another ball handler in practice, another body in depth, or adding another center from the standpoint of Christian Reeves is injured right now. Maybe it makes more sense to get some more insurance at the big man spot. I think either of those would make sense for KU.

Starting point is 00:07:22 But again, it is kind of based on. getting that, as Bill Self says, like, can we get a steal, right? So I look at that and say, you know, it's probably more likely the transfer portal guys who haven't picked a school yet than it would be a European guy. Because a European guy, what it tells me is European guy is going to have options just stay at his club. And the longer you wait on the European guy, he might just stay in his whatever country he's playing basketball in. Whereas with the transfer portal guys, it might become a thing of desperation of like, oh, no, we're in July. I still haven't picked a school yet.

Starting point is 00:07:57 I, you know, I turned down this one offer and they ended up going somewhere else. And now I don't have any offers, boom, you know, falls into KU's lap. I think that would be kind of the hope here for Kansas. But also have also talked a lot about Tyron Stokes, Leroyden, very complimentary there. Christian Reeves and his injury. We'll get to all that next. This is locked on Jayhawks. Our episode today is brought to you by Indeed.

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Starting point is 00:09:41 He was really complimentary of Leroyd-Blyden. He mentioned, and I think Monday might have been the first day that they were practicing in the summer. I could be wrong in that. But I watched Leroy shoot today. what self said pretty impressive right um later says i think he's going to be a very good ad then he later says he's fast he's got it on a string he can shoot it so like i think very complimentary here of what he brings to the table and i just i was so high on this edition when they first made it and like

Starting point is 00:10:13 the more you think about it like what are the guys that bill self has had success with right it's smaller guards who are fast who are quick who can create their own shot and who can hit a three ball. You know what I mean? For the longest time, that was the thing. And I look at Blyden, and I'm like, that that's part of it. And he also mentioned how like, yeah, like that was part of why we wanted him to, that he was just a freshman. But obviously, you do have to, you know, everybody's a free agent basically at the end of the year. So you do have to kind of counter that a little bit. And, you know, that makes for kind of an interesting part of all of this. But that obviously does tell me that Kansas, you know, isn't just bringing him on to be a one year guy. They want this to be a multi-year thing,

Starting point is 00:10:52 with Leroy Blyden. So I think as you're wondering, how is he going to translate from the Mac? Good first start, I guess you would say, from Bill Self there. Now, he also talked a little bit about on getting Tyron Stokes. He said, I thought we were in decent shape

Starting point is 00:11:11 the last six or eight months. And if you're a Kentucky fan, man, that has to feel like absolute dags. you know what I mean like you've been Kentucky you're chasing this guy for again all the time that Kansas is chasing them and the whole time Kansas felt like they were in the driver's seat for whatever six to eight months would put you December somewhere in that range and they used all this time and potentially resources on it and Kay was just like yeah we felt good about it for you know half a year basically at this point so that is certainly interesting but he also did

Starting point is 00:11:51 mention in the recruitment of Tyrant Sokes and getting him, he said, when you go all in on Tyron that eliminates you from retaining some other guys. And I think we can all kind of read the writing on the wall what that is in reference to, right? I mean, sure, maybe it is a little bit about, you know, Bryson Tiller as well. But I think for the most part, that's that's about Florida Bedong. And honestly, it might not even be about Bryson Tiller because that might just been a head clashing like people not getting along and not being the best fit for each other type of thing. But it's clearly like about Florida to me, right? If you return Florey, would you have had enough money to bring in Tyron Stokes? Or another way of looking at it is if you returned Florey and then you got Tyron Stokes, would the rest of your roster be filled with guys who would be like five point per game scores at their previous stop because you have no more money to fill out the rest of the roster, you know? And so that's where you have to make the decision now. And that's kind of what he was talking about. Like it isn't just as simple of a game as saying, I like this. player, I want him back.

Starting point is 00:12:52 That's what you used to do, right? But now with NIL, it's, I like this player. I want him. Oh, no, the cost got too much, don't want him anymore. Or, hey, that's a good price for him. I will take him, right? It adds another level of complication where it is no longer just to, I want this or I want that. It's I want this at cost, right?

Starting point is 00:13:10 Because you do have a specific budget. Now, maybe if you are one of those schools that does have a $25, $30 million budget, you say, you know, you forget the caution and you just go, oh, yeah, well, we'll pay both of them, you know, but Kansas is not in that situation. Like Kansas probably top 25 budget, maybe top 20 budget or something, but do they have a top five budget in college basketball? No, probably not. So you do have to make those decisions. And, you know, if you're asking me, like, would you rather have Tyron Soakes as a freshman or Flory Bedunga as a junior? I mean, it's a difficult question because typically the experience

Starting point is 00:13:41 is going to win more. But I do think Tyrant Stokes is the answer to me because as impactful as Florey is on the defensive end of the court, there's still some holes in his game on the defensive end with defensive rebounding, which is going to lessen the ceiling a little bit there, right? Like, as great as Flory was defensively and KU was defensively, they still weren't a top five defense in the country last year. And then the limited offensive factor with Florey, it's just one of those things where it's like, he's a really impactful player and does certain things well.

Starting point is 00:14:11 But if you're paying that level of money, you're basically paying somebody who you think can be like a first team all-American essentially, right? And if that is the case, give me the guy who impacts the game in every level. Like Tyrone Sokes can pass. He can shoot it. He can drive it. He can rebound. And so I get it, you know.

Starting point is 00:14:28 Okay. Other quotes from Bill Self here, more going in on kind of Taylor-Kinney and Leroyd, Blighton, he said, we'll play two little guards a lot. I've usually done my best with combo guards. I think that's music to a lot of people's ears, that you'll see a lot of the two guards together with Leroyden and. Ty, or not Tyrant Soch, well, Tyrone Soch too, but Taylin Kinney, in that, you know, that is kind of the plan here for KU. But who knows? If Col Rosario is that good in the offseason, does that, you know, throw a wrench in things?

Starting point is 00:14:58 And could that impact who's starting at those guard positions, right? He also, when talking about Christian Reeves, who had to undergo this surgery and is going to be out for a while now, apparently he is in a sling right now. But he gets out of the sling in like a week. but that doesn't mean he can get back to like full practice. It just means he can, you know, maybe start doing, I guess, like, I don't know, conditioning stuff or getting back in shape or rehabbing it. He eventually you'll be able to do, you know, one on zero stuff where it's just you maybe shooting the basketball or doing individual drills. But he mentioned that he probably can't like play through contact basically or get hit, which basically means like actually get into a scrimmage setting, for instance, until like early to mid October. So on one hand, like, that could be a bit optimistic from the standpoint of like,

Starting point is 00:15:52 okay, but if the season starts end of October, early November, that gives you some time for him to get going. But it certainly lessens the runway. The runway you're going to have to get that plane off the ground is short or to land that plane is very short here, right? And I've mentioned this before. My biggest worry is what happened with Shaquille Moore. Shekel Moore comes in, have like the broken foot or whatever.

Starting point is 00:16:12 And he kind of rushed back and ended up. being out later in season and ended up not being fully healthy version of himself. Like that's what you don't want here with Christian Reeves. Is him coming back too early and then he re-injures it or he's not 100% all the way through? And then if you don't have him, you're already thin at the center position to begin with. So it becomes kind of complicated how you deal with this and how it affects him from a standpoint of that's a lot of missed reps over the course of the summer. That's a lot of missed scrimmages.

Starting point is 00:16:41 Is anybody able to take advantage? Can Paul and Bia take advantage? can Davy on Adkins take advantage of that. I did find it very interesting that Bill Self mentioned. He said when Christian gets healthy, we will go from being a small team to one of the biggest teams around. Does that imply that it's more likely KU would start Dawes at the five than Paul Mbia? You know, that they view Reeves is the starting center.

Starting point is 00:17:08 And if Reeves can't go, Dawes will be the starting five. And then Mbia would be coming off the bench. It's entirely possible. That is the case. Or maybe he's just referring to it from a standpoint of like, yeah, well, it's from a depth perspective. Because if it be as our starter, then our backup center is either Dawes, who again is like 6-9 or Adkins, who's like a 6-8 center. So that could be what he means by that. But, you know, Christian Reef's health is going to play a vital role, a huge role in this season for KU.

Starting point is 00:17:37 And, you know, Self did mention that he would prefer to play big than small. So that can be a little bit of an indicator there too. I still think that a small ball lineup where Stokes at the four and Dawes at the five. I have questions maybe a little bit defensively, but I think offensively it's still be a really fun lineup and you still have enough rebounding there. So I do want to at least see it.

Starting point is 00:17:53 And I hope that we get that opportunity. And obviously, if Reeves is missing time, it'll pretty much have to play a little bit that way. But it does sound like Self would prefer to keep Reeves or Mbia in there at the five at all times, if possible, which that is the way that kind of the college basketball world, though, went this past season. All right,

Starting point is 00:18:12 finish up here. It is Rockchalk Roundball Classic Week. We'll get to that next. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Once again, don't forget, you join the everyday air club at locked on Jayhawks. Dot supercast.com. That is locked on Jayhawks.com to get the ad free version of the show. It is Rockchalk Roundball Classic week. And if you're new to the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic, I think this is your 18. I could be off with that. But it's basically a charity basketball game. And there's more to it during the week, which I'll discuss here. the benefits different families to help fight cancer. Basically is the easiest run down of this, right? So basically, Brian Haney, voice of the Jayhawks,

Starting point is 00:18:55 brings in a bunch of former KU basketball players. They have an exhibition basketball game on Thursday night. It's held at Free State High School. You can get tickets for just 15 bucks. All the money goes to the cause. Lawrence, you can get a 23rd Street brewery. You can pretty much get it in any like Johnny's between, I don't know, Wichita, Latha, Prairie Village, Topeka,

Starting point is 00:19:16 where you can get your tickets there. And you get to go to the game. They have all sorts of great things. They get the video. The kids get to be introduced in the lineup and meet some of these different players. It's really cool. And then there's a celebrity dinner on Friday where we raise more money for the kids who, again, are going through these cancer battles.

Starting point is 00:19:37 And it's helping their parents afford some of these bills and letting them live as normal of a life as possible. So it's an absolutely great cause. It's a wonderful time. It'll warm your heart. It's the old, you know, Jimmy V. Quote of, a good day is when you laugh and smile and cry and do all these things in one day, basically. And that's, I think, the opportunity afforded to you by an event like this because you do get a little bit of everything. We're also doing our trivia event that, you know, half the proceeds are going to go to the prize fund for the entrance. The other half is going to go to the round ball classic so if you do want to sign up for our trivia event you can get a team of up to six people jhawk trivia at gmail.com i will get to our trivia question here in a second jhawk

Starting point is 00:20:20 trivia at gmail dot com but it's a really cool roster coming together this year i mean it always is but for the round ball classic the guys are always you know they're signing autographs after the game you get to see them kind of around the the area i mean already that's been announced that i've seen russell robinsonson elijah tag sharon collins sasha khan coming back uh zeke meo O'Chag Baji, Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush, the McIuluk, Jalen Wilson, and a plenty more. And we talked to Brian last week, and he mentioned how there's a heavy flavor of guys from the 08 title team and the 2022 title team. So that's going to be really cool to see a lot of those guys there.

Starting point is 00:20:56 And again, if you want to support this, rock truck roundball classic.com. If you can't be there, but you want to donate, rock truck roundball classic.com. You want to get tickets to the game on Thursday. You want to go to our trivia event. Again, Jayhawk trivia at gmail.com. It's all supporting Zara Smith. Romeo Padilla, Peyton Dugan, Judy van der Kellyn and Ember Henry, who are all the kids who have been inflicted with these awful diseases and we're trying to help them in the fight. So again, rockrock roundball classic.com for more information on that.

Starting point is 00:21:26 All right, again, Jayhawk trivia at gmail.com. If you want to join our trivia on Wednesday at Johnny's in West Lawrence, 630, you can come on outdoors open at 5.30. It's going to be Smackdown Trivia. We've got a bunch of different teams. I think we have nine right now. so we have room for more if you want to join in. And teams of a max of six people, you enter in, half the money that you pay the entry fee goes to the prize pot.

Starting point is 00:21:49 We have other prizes that we're going to be given away too besides the cash. And the other half of the entry is going to go to the Rock Trump Roundball Classic. I take $0 of this. It's all going to you or a good cause, right? Which maybe you are a good cause as well, right? Okay, trivia question from yesterday was two Jayhawks tied for the team lead in blocks during the 2014 to 2015 season. Name one of them.

Starting point is 00:22:12 Correct answer was either Cliff Alexander or Jamari Trailer. Either one of those would have worked. Here's today's question. In KU's 2019 NCAA tournament second round loss to Auburn, Diedrich Lawson led the Jayhawks with 25 points. Who was second on the team with 15 points? Maybe a game that you've purged from your memory, so it might not help you here,

Starting point is 00:22:33 but maybe you suffered through and you have a good memory of this. again in KU's 2019 NCAA tournament second round lost to Auburn. Diedrich Lawson led the Jayhawks with 25 points. He was second on the team with 15. I thought it'll know for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page. We'll be back talking more KU baseball and plenty more right here on L.O.J.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - NOT DONE? Bill Self Looking for a Steal to Round Out Kansas Jayhawks Basketball's Roster

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