Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - TYRAN STOKES UPDATE + Bill Self Looking to SERBIA for 2026 Kansas Jayhawks Center Position?

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

Kansas Jayhawks press forward in the Tyran Stokes sweepstakes despite "non handshake gate" drama during his unofficial visit—are Bill Self’s calculated recruiting moves setting KU up for another star-studded roster? Stokes and Taylen Kinney make McDonald's All American Game headlines. Has KU done enough to stay at the forefront of elite high school talent?Derek Johnson breaks down Lazar Stojkovic’s upcoming visit, raising questions about program depth and future international signings. The Jayhawks’ approach to roster construction, NCAA compliance, and the return of key prospects like Bryson Tiller and Flory Bidunga highlight a forward-thinking strategy. With portal activity set to accelerate, KU’s proactive recruiting and potential addition of a Serbian big man could reshape their outlook. Is Kansas primed to dominate the next recruiting cycle?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 LOCKEDONfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.MazdaLike our players, we’re driven by the details. Because highlights make the reel. What it takes to get there makes it count.There’s more to a Mazda. Because there’s more to you.Turbo TaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life. Visit https://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.  IndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast FanDuelIf you’re a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in Bonus Bets if you win. Make it count — because after the Super Bowl, the season is over. Last call for football on FanDuel, an Official Sportsbook Partner of Super Bowl Sixty. 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.

We got non-handshake gate going on for Tyron Stokes and KU, but seems like Jayhawks still in a good spot. We update the latest in Tyrant Stokes and KU looking into a Serbian big man. 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, with another episode, a little bonus show of Locked on Jayhawks. Thank you for tuning into the show anywhere you get your podcast and thank you for making locked on the number one sports podcast network.

On this bonus episode of the show, we are given an update on Tyron Stokes, some of the latest around him after he wrapped up an unofficial visit to KU. Then we'll get a little bit into one of these recent reports about Lazar Stoykovich, a Serbian center in the class of 2026, who has a visit set to KU for a couple weeks from right now. and I think that's a good sign for KU, just from a program perspective. I'll get to the understanding of why in a little. Let's start right here with Tyron Stokes, though. So he just had an unofficial visit to KU over the weekend,

came in for the BYU game, sat behind the, whatever, the KU players, and was there with Talen Kinney and Javon Bardwell, and front and center for KU's 90 to 82 victory over the Cougars of BYU, where you got to see Darren Peterson versus AJ DeBanza. I'd imagine it was a fun game to be at for Tyron Stokes and Company, right? Then he goes back to Rainier Beach, where on Senior Day the other night, he drops 63 points. And Tony Bland, Curtis Townsend, both KU assistants were in attendance for the game.

And then I think one of Kentucky's assistants was in attendance to the game. So that's a little bit of Kentucky being like, hey, we're going to continue to push here. I don't know if that was Kentucky, just trying to be like, I want to be there in person so I can ask questions about like, do we still have a shot after you just had your unofficial visitor? Do we need to, you know, pump the brakes here? But it is interesting that KU continues to, you know, because you would think with some of the recent buzz, you would think with him just having the unofficial visit, the KU would be like, all right, now we're going to let it chill and you make your decision. But no, KU is basically being like, no, we're going to continue to hard press this thing because we don't want anything unforeseen contest in any way possible. That was interesting because as part of the unofficial visit and him attending the game, there was non-handshake gate where there was on ESPN, it was like before the game video of Bill Self walking in and he dapps up Talen Kinney and Javadne Bardwell, both of whom are committed to KU.

And Tyrant Sox like starts to kind of get up and then sits down and, you know, doesn't get the tap up from Bill Self. And it kind of got a little bit of an arousal from Kentucky fans of like, oh, like what's going on here? Like, why isn't he, you know, and I think some people, it was good nature to just. kind of like, oh, this ain't happening, right? And I'll say this, like, there are certain things you can and can't do on official versus unofficial visits. I am far from an expert on this sort of stuff, but just from my understanding of things. So you can, you're allowed to, it's the weirdest thing.

Like, you can, you can give tickets to a player on an unofficial visit, but there are certain things you can and can't do on an unofficial visit versus an official visit. And it's kind of like one of those gray areas, like you can talk to the recruit. but you can't like give the recruit like, uh, I don't know, you can't like use the recruit like in an entertaining way almost. And like, um, I don't know. There are just certain things you can and can't do. And so that's one of those gray areas where it's like if he does dap him up, I, I, it might not have like,

it might have just slid by okay. But in an era where KU is is on probation, I guess technically still one more year, like they have the one less scholarship this year where that was on. television where everybody could see it and everybody is watching it and where it could be argued that because one of the things with the unofficial visits is that like you can't um you can't like I don't know almost like put the player on a pedestal in a way like like for instance here's an article that they explain some of this stuff like an unofficial visit recruits can observe team practices and workouts meet with coaches and athletic staff tour facilities interact with current

student and athletes. But here's things they cannot do. Receive athletic department provided transportation or lodging. Be entertained by institutional staff or representative. So like that's one where it's like could technically that be viewed as that. And the NCAA would be like you can't do that. Engage in recruiting conversations with coaches or staff, although they can ask general questions about the program. So again, there are certain like gray areas here where it's like what's allowed, what isn't, but could some of those things be twisted and could Bill Self just view it as, hey, I'm just going to play it safe. So to me, it is a no biggie.

It's not something I'm worried about at all. It's kind of funny, the non-handshake gate, so to seem. But it does seem like KU was in a good spot here with Tyron Stokes. I mean, even like, I think Trilly Donovan tweeted over the weekend. Like somebody asked, like, is he going to commit to KU or something? And he was like, at this point, if he ain't going to commit to KU, he might as well play for the New Zealand breakers, I think he said, which was a bit of an homage to the past with R.J. Hampton, who, heck, right now, what is R.J. Hampton up to?

He's still in the NBA. Can we get R.J. Hampton on the Jayhawks right now? I mean, there's all these guys like, you know, Charles Betty Akko is playing for Alabama. Why can't we get R.J. Hampton coming to play for KU next year. You know what I mean? Okay, he's playing. He's playing in, uh, where is this? Changsha, is that in China?

Yeah, National Basketball League in China. He's playing in China. Can we get R.J. Hampton to the Jayhawks next year to be in the back court with Taylor and Kemp, you know? And Melvin Council, let's get him back to, right? Um, anyway, pointing. Also of note, Stokes was just named to the McDonald's All-American game, along with Talen Kinney. So who knows, maybe future Jayhawk teammates will get to play together in that one.

Hey, there's another KU player that, or potential KU player. He has not committed. I promise you that. But KU is looking at Lazar Stoyakovich, Stoikovic, who is a seven-foot Serbian center. Let's talk about that next. I'm Glea Butler, host of lockdown women's basketball. And this is Mazda's Women's Basketball Snapshot. celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture.

Number one ranked Yukon dominated Tennessee, 96 to 66, turning a halftime tie into a historic win and avenging last season's loss by delivering the largest margin in the rivalries history. AZ Fudd had 27 points and Sarah Strong added 26, as the Huskies remain perfect on the season, reminding everyone why they are the reigning national champions. In the Big Ten, number two, UCLA rolled past number eight, Iowa, 88 to 65, powered by 22 points from Angela Dukalage and a huge advantage in the paint, staking their claim as a national threat. These moments are earned off the clock, those long before the lights ever come on, the sweat, the fakes, the doubt, the scrapes, and coming back for more every time.

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Visit turbotax.com slash local to book your appointment today. Thanks you for joining us here on the Lockdown Jayhawks. You can find a show anywhere you get your podcast. Check out our KU football episode talking about Andy Kulnicki of more KU football. coming out Thursday. We got a KU Utah preview coming out Friday as well. Okay, Lazar Stoikovic is a 7 foot 220 pound center from Serbia. And he is a member of the 2026 recruiting class. He isn't one of these international players who he's like 23 years old and he's going to join to play four years of college basketball. He actually is, I think, a part of the class. Like his birthday is it's October

something of 2007. So that actually means right now he is a legit 18 years old. He'll be 19 for the start of the college basketball season. So it is a legit, you know, younger player, although he is playing professionally in Europe to kind of develop there. So according to Joe Tipton with On 3, he is scheduled to visit Kansas on February 23rd to 24th. And then he'll also be visiting Baylor, Ohio State, St. Bonaventure, and potentially some other schools. But this is a player who, again, good size, good fluidity, good mobility. he was playing for Dubai under 19 team in the Dubai League where he would go in limited sample, four games, eight and a half points, four point eight rebounds per game, one point eight blocks,

although the field goal percentage is very bad, 26% from the floor. How does that happen as a seven quarter? Anyway, he was 16 years old. What do you want him to do? No, and then the next year he starts playing in Belgrade. And for BKK Radicki Beogrod, he as an 18 or as a 17-year-old, plays 18 games. games, 16 minutes a game. He's averaging six points, three point six rebounds, 1.3 blocks per game. That's a consistent that the shot block numbers are pretty good on

them, up to 45% from the 23 from three. And then so far this year for BKK, Radnicki Beograd, he's played some games in the KLS. He's played some games in the junior league ABA, 13 games played 17 minutes per game, 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds per game, one and a half blocks per game, 51% from the floor, 42% from 3 and 61% at the foul line. Some things that stick out with those stats. Again, the shot blocking has been very good, right? This year, one and a half blocks per game in just 17 minutes. That's a good number to be at.

He can score it a little bit from some different zones. He can shoot the three a little bit, which is kind of nice to see it come around to the best of his ability so far this year. He also played in the FBA U18 Eurobasket that happened back in 2025. And during that, he averaged 4.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, per game. So these are not necessarily numbers that are, you know, huge numbers. You have 50% from from 2, 25% from 3. Also in that was a good shot blocker, 1.6 blocks per game in 17 minutes, right? So it's not numbers that jump off the page. On 3 has them listed as kind of a mid three star,

which would tell you this is not somebody that you would like, sometimes you see these international prospects and you're like, oh, would that be a guy that would come in and start right away for Kansas. I don't think that would be the idea here, at least not to me. I mean, To me, I was almost in watching some of the highlights. I almost got a little bit of like a little bit skinnier, more fluid less, I don't know, skinnier or more fluid Zach Clements. Like there's a little bit of three point shooting there. He's not the most powerful big down low.

But, you know, again, he's going to be 19 years old in the fall. He has some pro experience, probably a bit of a cheaper ad to fill out the roster for whoever gets him in terms of, I don't know, he's not going to. to cost like the same as bringing Florida Bedunga back, you know, it would be kind of my thoughts. So when you look at the potential KU center roster, right, like Florida Bedunga is the one where at this point, it's a coin flip. I think I said last week, like I was leaning toward him coming back. And then the last two games, he just went and played great defense against AJ DeBonsa and J.T. Topin. So I don't know. Maybe he's gone now. But with that one, it feels like a coin flip.

With Bryson Tiller, I expect him to be back because I think KU will pay him a big NIL check to come back because he could be a stud next year. But the question. there is going to be do you play him at the four do you play him at the five i think part of that will determine itself based on who you add right if you find yourself in a good position to add a good center in the portal you say we'll play tiller at the four if you find yourself in a good position to add a good wing in the portal you say we'll play tiller at the five like you can make it work either way but realistically tiller can play the five for you again we wait and see on what happens with podunga you're bringing in davy on adkins who is a four-star recruit who um

has kind of been dropping a little bit in the recruiting rankings lately but i i don't know i I still think he's somebody who, like, I think can play a role, at least as a rotation player in year one. You'll have Paul Mbia back as a true sophomore. There's a lot of bodies in that room. And I guess potentially like, you know, Mbia could transfer or something. But you would be looking for developmental big just to give you another body in there and somebody you could develop for the long run. And the beauty of him is he can play the four or the five for you where it gives you coverage at a little bit of both position. So I think there should be a good ad and would kind of make sense for KU to build.

your depth. I wouldn't envision him as a starter. I wouldn't envision him as a rotation player in his first year, but could he develop into one of those? Absolutely. And if it's a cheaper ad that adds that depth and gives you that opportunity, that'd be a good thing for KU. But I'm going to tell you more of why I think this is a good thing, just the fact that KU is even surfacing as a potential option and getting a visit from this kid next. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook. It is the last call for football on Fandual. One final Sunday, one last kickoff, the final chance to get in on the action before the NFL season officially comes to a close. This is Super Bowl 60 and Fanduels making sure you're right in the middle of it

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Last call for football and Fandul, an official sports partner of Super Bowl 60. Visit fandul.com to get started. Thanks you for joining us here. Don't forget and check out the Everydayer Club at Lockdown Podcast.com slash Everydayer to get ad-free versions of the show and talk to me unscripted on the Discord channel. We also have like a Big 12 channel and college football and all the channels you could possibly want. But Lockdown Podcast.com slash everydayer. Okay, so why is this a great sign, right?

Because Lazar Stoikovic is not going to be somebody who is a needle mover for KU in 2026. So why am I saying this? Well, I think when you look back to the offseason last year for KU, it took a while to fill things out, right? It took a while, especially on the international front for KU to get things going. And remember some of the swings and misses they took. Remember Bryce DeZerre? Remember Kerem Kohnan?

Like remember some of these names we were talking about how stretched out things got, right? This year, I don't know how possible that stretched out offseason is going to be. There is a portal window that is going to speed everything up, in my opinion, that is happening in April and is going to going to make things even more important that you are timely with this stuff on schedule and that you have a plan before it even begins. And so being ahead of schedule is a great thing, right? The fact that they're even showing interest in him, I think is good from the standpoint of it tells me that they're thinking ahead, which that is the most important part of this to me, right? And it doesn't hurt that they actually, you know, could have a chunk of the roster figured out for

next year like a pretty good chunk obviously barring some NBA decisions obviously barring some portal decisions but like you look at it okay you have this freshman class with taylin kinney and davy on adkins coming in maybe you get giovon bardwell maybe you don't right whether he reclassifies or not maybe you get tyrant stokes maybe you don't depending on the decision there um bryson tiller returning is a potential star for you obviously you have the NBA decision for floribundga you have potential role guys uh like on marco jackson and jimari macdowell which feel like to me would would definitely be returners at this point. What's Cole Rosario going to think of all this? Like he's somebody who I still value his long-term potential. Is he going to view being out of

the rotation as, hey, I'm going to go somewhere else or is he going to view it as, okay, I'm here. I'm even more comfortable in the system and, you know, see what happens there. You have some potential roster fillers or developmental guys like Corbin Allen, Paul and Bias, and he's Calderon to kind of work with. And again, could any of them transfer? Absolutely. But let's say hypothetically, I mean, if we're talking Bill Suff, likes an eight-man rotation and sometimes it's even seven like we're seeing right now if you have Kenny Adkins tiller let's say even Flory Goes Pro let's say Javon Bardwell even stays in the class of 2027 right um and then you have El Marco and Jamari McDowell that's already five guys in your

rotation and that doesn't count like what if Cole Rosario develops into that what if Sumis Calderon develops into that what if you add Tyron Stokes what if Flory does come back you know what if Devon Bardwell does reclass what if you add a big time transfer so there's actually are a decent amount of the spots the KU would need already filled up. Like I don't think this is going to be a situation where you need to bring in eight transfers, you know? And so the combination of that where I don't know that they're going to have to do as much work as they had to like last off season,

a combination of that, the combination of the fact that they clearly are working ahead already tells me that they are setting up to be in a good place this off season. All right. That'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you subscribe to the show. back at you tomorrow with some KU football day after that, KU basketball.

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