Bill Self came away from Kansas’ 24th annual Boot Camp pleased with what he saw from his 14 men’s basketball players, and one name stood out above the rest.
“They did well. I’m not saying obviously any of them are ready to be a ranger or Marine just yet. But they did well,” Self said Tuesday in his Allen Fieldhouse office.
The Jayhawks went through roughly 90 minutes of nonstop conditioning work each morning from Sept. 7-17, with the weekend days off for recovery. Official preseason practice began Sept. 21.
Asked who separated himself during the grind, Self pointed to sophomore guard Kohl Rosario.
“Kohl more than anybody, leadership-wise,” Self said.
Self noted that Tre White was not yet with the team during Boot Camp. White, who joined practice Sept. 25, is a well-conditioned athlete and was granted a preliminary injunction in Indiana court.
That ruling immediately made him eligible for the 2026-27 season unless there is an emergency stay in the NCAA’s favor. The NCAA, meanwhile, won a pair of appeals Friday in similar cases involving class of 2022 athletes seeking a fifth year of eligibility, as White has done.
Self said this year’s conditioning work was still demanding, even if it did not quite resemble the old days.
“Not like it was back in the old days,” Self responded, when asked about the degree of difficulty involved in his team’s 2026 Boot Camp conditioning. “The trash cans were still lined up and not near as many people used them this year as they have maybe in some past years. But it is hard.”
Among the newcomers who took part in Boot Camp for the first time were Davion Adkins, Luke Barnett, Leroy Blyden Jr., Keanu Dawes, Grant Mordini, Taylen Kinney, Dennis Parker Jr., Trent Perry, Christian Reeves, Atticus Richmond and Tyran Stokes.
Stokes, the nation’s No. 1-ranked player in the high school recruiting class of 2026, handled the work well, according to Self.
“did fine,” Self said. “I don’t know that I’ll say that he’s Stephen Vinson (guard) from back in the day. He (Vinson) set the standard, but he (Stokes) did well.”
The 6-foot-8 freshman from Louisville has also impressed in actual practice. When asked to compare him with Darryn Peterson, the No. 1 prospect in the 2025 recruiting class who spent a year at Kansas before moving on to the Utah Jazz, Self drew a clear distinction.
“They’re totally different. Nobody scores the ball like Darryn, but Tyran does a. little bit of everything. They’re both great talents, great talents.”
Self said Stokes is “ridiculously bright,” and added that he believes the freshman can become more assertive and more consistent.
“I think he can play with more of an edge, but he has the right mindset. I think he can become more consistent.”
He also sees Stokes as a player without a fixed position.
Self said Stokes could line up at shooting guard, small forward, power forward or even point guard.
“He’s a good passer. He got great vision.
He can see over people,” Self said. “He’s one of the best I’ve seen (passing).
I don’t know that he passes it like Penny (Hardaway) did when we recruited Penny like we did back in the day (as an assistant at Oklahoma State), but I think that he’s as good a passer as we’ve ever had here. He’s a good passer, a willing passer, so everybody knows he’s not selfish.”
Self added that the aim is to “pass to start a play as much as pass to finish the play.”
One more detail from the schedule: Kansas will practice in the afternoon during the 2026-27 season, after doing morning workouts a year ago. Self said the change was driven by class schedules.
“We’re back in the afternoon unfortunately,” Self said, “because a couple of players, the only time the classes they had to take in person were offered in the morning. So that blocked us out.
We had to go afternoons. It’s nobody’s fault, just the way it (schedule) was set up.”
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Tre Whites Return Just Changed Kansas Biggest Lineup Debate
Tre White is back with Kansas basketball after being granted a preliminary injunction in an Indiana lawsuit, and his return has already nudged one of Bill Selfs most interesting early-season questions back to the front of the room. White gives the Jayhawks another perimeter option, which opens the door to some smaller, more interchangeable looks if the roster develops that way.
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