Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - What Should the Kansas Jayhawks Be Looking For in the Basketball Transfer Portal?

Episode Date: March 28, 2023

Looking back at the transfers out of the program for the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team and what should KU be searching for from players to types of traits in the transfer portal headed into 2023-2024. Plus, Whose Stat Line is it Anyway featuring some possible transfer targets for Bill Self and staff.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's Locked on Jayhawks, we're going to be joined by Nick Schwert to talk a little KU offseason takeaways of the players that are leaving from KU, what could be gained out of the transfer portal, and we'll finish up with a little who's stat line is it anyway. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. You can hear me as well on Rock Chalk Sports Talk, Monday through Friday, 3 to 6 on KLWN in Lawrence. Thanks for making Locked On Jayhawks your first listen every day. We're free and available wherever you get any of your podcasts, and you can also find us on YouTube. On today's edition of the show, we're joined by Nick Schwert. Give him a follow at Nick underscore Schwert on Twitter, and we're going to be talking a little off-season for KU basketball, four players transferring out, at least

as of now, what they could be doing in return in the transfer portal. First, though, this episode of Locked On Jayhawks is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. The official sportsbook of Locked On Jayhawks is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. The official sportsbook of Locked On. Make every moment more with FanDuel, the official sportsbook partner of Locked On. Okay, so Nick, four players transferring out of the program. None of them really had that big of a role on last year's team, or I guess this past year's team. Joe Yesufu, probably the closest to it, got a couple spots, starts in there, kind of the first guy off the bench, but none of them that they were going to be

kind of sorely missing. But what was kind of your immediate takeaway about all these players leaving for Kansas? And I don't know, maybe a couple more to come, but at the very least, my biggest takeaway was less about Kansas and more about college basketball. Like I don't mean to sound like the old crusty college basketball fan who yearns for the days of yesteryear when guys stuck around for four years. I don't,

I don't think I'm going to miss any of those guys. So I don't want this to act like a criticism of them, but my immediate takeaway was this is college basketball. This is how it works. Now, if you, if as a team, to act like a criticism of them. But my immediate takeaway was this is college basketball. This is how it works now. If you, as a team, you underachieve and you don't feel like you had the roster that you anticipated or that you tried to build and B, if these players feel like

they're not being utilized in a proper way or that they're not in a system or with a coaching staff that is going to accentuate their strengths, then they're going to look for better options. I think this is, you know, people talk about why this is good for college basketball or bad for college basketball. And coaches, you know, have been vocally critical of why this makes their jobs so much harder right like i feel so bad for these poor coaches whose jobs got you know just moderately more difficult all while making millions of dollars i think they'll survive but they get to compensate from this as much if not more than the players do if if it were totally up to the coaches,

if players had no say in whether or not they were going to, you know, be able to stay or leave or go somewhere else. How many of those guys do you think KU would have chosen to keep? How many of those four players do you think they would have said, no, we need you here. You're a big part of our future. Honest question. How many of those guys do you think KU would have said, no, we need you here. You're a big part of our future.

Honest question. How many of those guys do you think Katie would have said, no, we really want this guy back next year. Probably not any of them. That's I don't think so either. Maybe, maybe you could convince me that they saw a long-term future for one of the guards. I don't know which one, right?

It depends on how they kind of view El Marco Jackson and maybe how he fits alongside Dwan Harris or what options are available in the transfer portal. But that's the whole point is that whatever they view for these guys, they're probably looking at and saying, we can get somebody better. We can go out and find someone in the portal that is going to plug that hole and you guys can find a better home. So for as much criticism that's been sort of thrown at the transfer portal, I see a situation at Kansas where all parties are benefiting. Yes, there's going to be a massive overhaul with this roster, but I think if Kansas was given the option of those two doors,

they would take the door that said, let's start fresh and try something different next year, because we thought all these dudes were going to take a step or play a bigger role on this year's team. And virtually all of them fell short of our expectations. Do you think this is a good thing for Kansas for next year's team in terms of like are there any worries for you about hey you're going to have a bunch of new guys to the Bill Self program and we've seen how well things have gone for KU teams when players are experienced

in his specific program I guess are there any worries for you about the mass overhaul that could be coming to the roster? Yes, there are worries, but I don't think those worries are any bigger than the worries of running it back for another year. And the fear of what if those guys once again don't take a step? Because you're right. Bill Self historically has seen the most success with that perfect blend of having these experienced guys, these program guys, and then infusing that with the youth, with the talent, with the McDonald's All-Americans or the Blue Chip recruits. I think the problem with this core, and the reason why I would take the door that said,

let's just start over, is that the guys who were there this year, and the guys we're talking about, mainly Zach Clements, Bobby Pettiford, and Joe Yesafu. With the... I would give maybe an asterisk next to Joe because he did sort of do some things late. That's as strong as I'm going to be with Joe Yesafu. He just did some things.

I put that on his tombstone, his Kansas career tombstone did some things like none of those guys took a step. And that's what you hope to see is that gradual improvement. Okay. You didn't do much in year one, but then in year two, you looked a little more comfortable. You started to contribute a little bit more. The coaches trusted you across the board. I thought all three of those guys were virtually the same player they were the year before with slightly more opportunity. Like the efficiency wasn't up, the production wasn't up, the comfort level didn't look like it was there. Did you see any growth from any of those guys this past season? No, no.

And I mean, with Bobby Pettiford, like there was, I think it was at the banquet last year, Bill Self said he's going to be the next great guard at KU. So do you think he's happy that he had to give up on him a year later? No, probably not. No, but I think that they envisioned that Bobby could give you 20 plus minutes a night this year. And that was clearly not the case.

Yeah. I mean, it's, it's with all those guys with Zach Clements. It's like, Hey, if he hit, that would have been nice to have a stretch five with Joe Yesfu would have been nice to have a guy coming off the bench who could create and hit his own shot with Bobby. The same thing about the next great guard and all that stuff. Uh, you're right. Like ideally they, they had hopes of how all of those players would have worked

we heard so much about oh bill self with matthew hurt at usa basketball and he's going to use that playbook was that clements it wasn't for a lack of trying it's not because ku didn't want it it just didn't and and you're 100 right they didn't take steps forward if they would have they'd still be on the team or they would have been playing bigger roles on this year's team all right i want to get into the transfer portal. Maybe not necessarily individual targets, though we can get into some of those, but more just in general what KU should be looking for out of the portal this year. But first, though, this episode of Jayhawks is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.

The tournament is heating up, and there's no better place to bet on the action than FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. That's because right now FanDuel is giving new customers a no sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's up to $1,000 back in bonus bets. If your first bet doesn't win, just go to FanDuel.com slash locked on, sign up to claim your nose for that. Then you can wage on anything from money line point spreads to uh individual point scores and you can even bet on some of the different stuff in the final i know around final four mop i think yukon's gonna win it sunogo's the favorite at plus 270 but i like jordan hawkins he's supposed

to be a first round pick he's been shooting really well from the outside and get him at plus three 30. You can bet on that or anything else with FanDuel all on an app that's safe, secure, and super easy to use. So don't miss your chance for a no sweat. First bet up to $1,000. When you join FanDuel today, just go to FanDuel.com slash locked on to sign up. Make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sports betting partner of Locked on Jayhawks. Alright, so going into the

transfer portal, going transfer portal shopping here. I don't know how in tune you've been with some of the different names that have floated out there, whether it's been, oh, there's some interest with KU or this guy would make sense for KU and that's fine. We don't really need to get into individual guys because that more so is going to come into the coming weeks.

But I think just overall, in terms of maybe the prototype of player or the types of players you think should most be looking for uh whether it's traits or i don't know just anything about the type of player what to you sticks out about what they should be kind of shopping for i feel like this is sort of an evergreen answer. Like I could say this every year. It's sort of like edge rushers in football. You can never get too many of them, but it's playmakers. I need guys who can put the ball on the deck and go and get a shot. Like, look at what this team lacked was individuals who could go and score points for you. They had two guys who could score consistently. and one of them lived on

spot up threes and was easily taken out of the game. Jalen Wilson was your catalyst offensively and he wasn't a super efficient offensive player. It was because he was asked to do so much and going into next year, like I don't know what the blueprint is. If you're just telling me what is the plan, what are you building around? We know you have a really good point guard, one of the best in the country, one of the best defenders in the country. And you've got another, you know, two really nice pieces down low and Uday and KJ. So I don't even know how those guys fit together, by the way. So you, the world is your oyster. So it can, you can be, you can be very anxious about that and not knowing what your path is, but I think it's opportunity. Like we

go and just amass talent and then figure out what to do with it later. I think that's what the great coaches do. So I don't think this coaching staff is going into next season with any sort of real structure other than you know those three guys are going to play you know those three guys are going to play and you're going to I think largely play through the athleticism that you have at those two big spots aside from that you need guys who can go and score points you need guys who can put the ball on the deck who don't rely upon an offensive set who can just be athletic shot create and get points in a way that this team just was not ever able to do consistently this past year yeah and i 100%

agree there i think when you look at a position wing will be the top one um but the question to me becomes because i i think you're going to need a ton of shooting on this year's team if if you have a lineup with dewan harris it sounds like to me they're going to try to play KJ Adams at the four more, and then you have Ernest Uday at the five. That means your two and three better be like knockdown shooters. But we also know the Bill Self values defense. You're losing Kevin McCuller. So I guess in a vacuum, if you had the option between like, let's say a Kevin McCuller type

player. So a player who is a wing, who's like a low 30% three point shooter, but as a really good defender or someone who maybe you have questions about, maybe you have questions about, maybe they're like a, a non power five type player, but they shoot the three really, really well. They struggle in other areas. Which would you go with in a vacuum? Well, as in most cases, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. You have a lot of spots available, so you're probably going to try to add multiple types of players with different skill

sets that complement each other. I don't want to cop out, so I will give an answer. Take, give me the scoring. Give me the athleticism. I saw the really smart team. Like I 2023 Kansas. I saw the really smart team that moved the ball. Well, that played great defense. I saw it. It was fine. Didn't love it. I'll tell you what I'm not. I'm not asking to sign up for another year of that. I'll take the team that can space the floor that plays fast, that has a bunch of shooters, that has a bunch of scores and just plays hard. They may give up buckets, but when they're on, they're going to be really tough to beat. Like give me the high upside team

with maybe a little bit of a lower floor than the team that I just know is going to play really smart and do all the right things, but doesn't have the upside that you need to win six games in March. I think the position I'm most interested about what they do in the portal is the center position. The way that I've kind of viewed it is you're content with the progression that Ernest Uday and Zuby Edgeford might show.

It wouldn't surprise you if either of those guys takes a big jump next season because they both clearly have length and athleticism and talent and everything, but also neither did enough to make you think that, well, we should just completely ignore this position. So do you go out and get maybe somebody who you'd expect to be a backup center to just give them a veteran presence down there? Or if the opportunity arises, is it somewhere where you're not really actively shopping for a center, but if one pops arises is it somewhere where you're not really actively shopping um for a

center but if one pops up where it's like that guy's a dude that guy is a potential all-american you have to go for him right i don't think there's any position that this coaching staff is just not looking at i don't think there's any spot where they're saying, nope, don't need any help there. Even point guard. I mean, you have DeJuan Harris for probably, what, two more seasons? And you have a McDonald's All-American, maybe a potential one-and-done candidate in El Marco Jackson coming in. That doesn't mean they're not going to go out there and look at the best point guards that are available. I mean, you may end up having, what's the, what do you think is the number of spots that they're going to have to fill in the transfer portal? Knowing that you've got what four scholarship players coming in, in the recruiting class, what are we looking at here in

the transfer portal? How many openings do you think they realistically have? Yeah. I mean, if, if you assume that Grady Dick goes pro, which I think we both would. Um, you, let's say MJ Rice and Kyle Cuff end up transferring out of the program. Now, who knows? Maybe one stays, maybe both stay or whatever. But I think the assumption right now for most people is that both go. Then you're losing basically six players via the transfer portal, three players to the draft with Jalen, Kevin and Grady. That would leave you with four players on the roster, four freshmen coming in. You have 12 scholarships next year because you lose one. So you'd have

four player, you'd have four openings at that point to work with. Yeah, it wouldn't shock me to see them add a point guard, two wings and a big guy. Like if it works out that way, it wouldn't I mean, any combination of that, I wouldn't shock me to see them go two point guards and two wings. It wouldn't shock me to see them go two big guys and two ball. Like they're not going to fit themselves into this. And what we know with Kansas is they'll be patient too. Like they kind of got Remy Martin at the last minute. They waited around for Kevin McCuller. That's what will happen too. We have to learn this about this coaching staff is there's going to be a lot of names that are tossed out there in the early part of the off season. And you're going to see them whittle

down their list and maybe Kansas will be in it. And then they'll keep picking other schools and you'll say, what's going on? Like, why isn't Kansas in on any of these guys? And then all of a sudden it'll be like the first week of June and KU is going to end up signing some dude who will wind up being the number one of the number two transfer portal guy in the country at least that's how it's worked for each of the last two seasons it may be a little bit different now that you are shooting for volume this summer but i still expect them to go and and land some big names yeah it almost makes sense at this point with the way that the draft entrance works to at least leave like one open to try to figure out because you don't know this guy pulls back from the draft maybe he comes here we're gonna finish up with

real quick oh real quick i i want to i we have not talked about this beforehand but um i'm not like i don't i don't know all the guys in the in the transfer portal but there is one guy i immediately watched and said oh yeah they should definitely go get him. And if you saw him, I think you would know who I'm thinking of, but is there anybody that has piqued your interest so far? You have a crush. So there is,

and I have a feeling one of these guys is going to pop up because the addition of who stat line is it anyway, is the transfer portal edition. Okay. Let's wait. And if, if I don't mention the guy you're talking about, then we'll mention it at the end.

Okay. All right? Deal. All right. Back for the Transfer Portal Edition of whose stat line is it at with Locked on Jayhawks. And your first guy that you had averaged 19.5 points per game, 9.6 rebounds per game he did not play last year he was injured

but this was his 2021 to 22 season on a Mountain West team that made the NCAA tournament uh Mountain West that made the NCAA tournament I'm trying to whittle it down like that and I also if you don't even have to give me the name if you don't know who the player is but at West that made the NCAA tournament. I'm trying to whittle it down like that. And I also, you don't even have to give me the name if you don't know who the player is, but at least tell me, does this player interest you for Kansas? Am I interested? I'm going to guess because it's Mountain West. I'm going to guess it's

and looking at the numbers, I'm going to guess it's some big lumbering white guy from like Montana state. So I'm going to say, no, I'm not interested in some big oath. All right.

So the correct answer here is Graham EK. He is the big man at Wyoming and he's not lumbering white guy. He is a six foot nine, like 240, 250 pounds shot 51% from the floor. If you remember, Wyoming made the tournament last year, and I remember C.J. Moore wrote an article about this in The Athletic that they were reversing the basketball analytics.

They were becoming the team that was heavy on post-ups than any team in the country. He's a really good post-up player. I think this is the guy that I'm keeping an eye on that I'm like, I don't know if he'll come to KU. I don't know what the deal is there, but this is the guy that I think makes so much sense at the center position because what does he do that KU didn't have last year? He scores on the block. Yeah. And even if you, even if you hate the idea of Kansas getting back to more post-ups, you just have to at least live with the fact that it's always going to be some

part of the equation as long as bill self is the coach at canvas as long as he's the coach they may not be like they may not be option one or two but they always want a guy who can get them a shot two feet away from the rim so knowing that it's gonna be a part of the equation somewhat having like one of the best in the country wouldn't be the worst idea so that was the one that i i actually was thinking that that you were wondering about so we'll see if this is the one uh that you're going to mention this guy last season 17.9 points per game he shot 35 from three on over eight three-point attempts per game in the American Athletic Conference. Let's go. Let's go. Yes. Yeah, this is my guy, man. This is Kalief Battle from Temple. This dude, this is the best scorer in the transfer portal. I mean, and he gets his own. He gets his own. He can score. And he came off

the bench last year, Derek. This guy, I mean, he's just, I hate this term because I feel like it's just another way of saying the same thing, but like he gets buckets. Like this guy just gets buckets and I would love to see him wearing the crimson and blue. Yeah, he makes so much sense as being a creator. You can play him at the two. Maybe you could play him as a small three next to two point guards.

I 100% agree. That's the one that fills your issues. i think that's one thing that would really compliment dewan and why you know two years ago when he was kind of coming into his own it was so beautiful watching him play next to christian and ochi because those guys neither one of them are really off guards they're closer to being wings but they could handle it comfortably and if you could fast forward to like this year and those guys still be in there, but this version of DeJuan playing next to them, I think DeJuan would thrive even more putting him next to a legit playmaking shot creating guard.

I feel like would be the perfect mix. This guy is a shot creating guard, but I don't know how much you'd want him so this one will be fun he just entered the portal today averaged almost 17 points per game three assists per game just 29.9 percent from three on seven and a half attempts per game from downtown out of the acc yeah this is probably the most recognizable name in the transfer portal. Caleb Love from North Carolina. What's the scuttlebutt out there on Caleb Love? Is he going to end up being one of the most highly sought-after transfers?

I don't know. The efficiency was horrible, to say the least. But also the year before, he helped carry the run at a take. It's like, yeah, the efficiency is not great. But I mean, Jalen was shooting 32% his junior year, albeit on like half the amount of shots. So I feel like there's room for growth there. If we're like, hey, we're going to pull the reins back a little bit on the volume,

maybe get a little tick up on the efficiency, pal, and we can fit you right in. I would be, to answer the question, I would be interested. I'm just saying. I don't know if I'd make him priority number one, but I would be interested. I would at least put the sniffers out on Caleb Love. It feels like a Malik Newman type of player before he came to KU to me. And so if you're able to reel him in and be like, Hey,

you're option number four, you're option number five, or you might be coming off the bench at first and having to earn your way in, but you can play off of DeJuan Harris. I don't, like I said, like you said,

I'd rather have Cleveland battle. I think there's other options, but I don't hate it. But Derek, I don't think he would be option number four next year for Kansas he wouldn't be option number four he'd be like two or three yeah that's a good point that's a little scary when you see a guy shooting again he was like 36 from the floor 29 from three i know i know man but i mean look at the look at the roster it's not exactly flooded with talent right now.

It's not exactly flooded with bodies either. Only four guys, I guess. Being warm bodies out there at this point. Beggars can't be choosers. That's for sure. Well, Nick, I appreciate the time. And you want to upcoming? No, man.

Just same as always. We're doing the Wave of the week podcast every week uh wherever you get your podcasts all right i'm a follow at nick underscore schwirt on twitter i'm derrick johnson you can find the show here with locked on jayhawks wherever you find any of your podcasts or on youtube have a good rest of the day we'll see you next time with loj