Kansas has spent most of its exhibition history at Allen Fieldhouse beating up on smaller-name opponents, which made Wednesday’s loss to No. 11 Louisville feel like a jarring break from the norm. It also set the stage for an even bigger test.
On Sunday, the Jayhawks close their preseason slate against No. 2 Duke at 12 p.m. on ESPN, and this one carries all the feel of the new exhibition model in college basketball: less warm-up, more battlefield. KU’s old run of 58 straight home exhibition wins came largely against Division II competition from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, with occasional names like the EA Sports All-Stars, Australia’s Geelong Supercats and even Pella Windows mixed in.
This time, there’s no such cushion.
“Of course I’d love to win, no question,” KU coach Bill Self said of the Duke game. “But I want us to build off of the things that happened (against Louisville) and improve in those areas that we weren’t very good and have to learn how to compete in a manner in which you got to compete.”
Self said he intends to rotate the starting group again, just as he did between the games against Pittsburg State and Louisville. That means Leroy Blyden Jr. is expected to start in place of Taylen Kinney, while Christian Reeves, the former Blue Devil, is set to replace Paul Mbiya.
The message from the locker room after the Louisville loss was much the same.
“Just a game,” KU guard Melvin Council Jr. said after the loss to Louisville. “We got to learn from tonight with film, take it over to Duke. Win or lose, we just got to be better than what we (were) tonight and try to keep a lead.”
Duke, meanwhile, arrives in Lawrence with the kind of roster that keeps it in the national-title conversation even after a major departure. The Blue Devils are without All-American forward Cameron Boozer, who went No. 3 in the NBA Draft last season, but they still bring back guards Cayden Boozer and Caleb Foster, wing Dame Sarr and center Patrick Ngongba II.
That core is enough to matter. Duke added even more firepower through the transfer portal and recruiting, bringing in former Wisconsin guard John Blackwell, who averaged 19.1 points per game last season, and 7-foot-2 freshman center Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje.
Boumtje Boumtje, a Florida native who played for FC Barcelona, is only 17 after reclassifying to join the team. He won’t be eligible for next year’s NBA Draft, but he has already flashed the kind of upside that makes people notice. In Duke’s first exhibition, a 102-62 win over Belmont, he scored 19 points to share the team lead with Sarr, while also collecting seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
The Blue Devils followed that with another dominant showing Tuesday against preseason No. 8 Tennessee. This time, freshman point guard Deron Rippey Jr. carried the offense, finishing with 21 points in 21 minutes on 9-for-12 shooting.
Sunday will also be Duke’s first trip away from Cameron Indoor Stadium this season, and it kicks off a home-and-home exhibition series the schools are labeling the Blue Blood Classic. Self said the idea didn’t take much deep strategy.
“Do you want to come here and we’ll return it the next year and let’s try to both make a little money off of it?”
Because the game falls outside KU’s season-ticket package, the athletic department can direct the money toward “things that are pretty important to programs right now.”
“I guess that’s about the extent of the conversation,” Self said with a smile. “Shrewd negotiating went on to get that.”
The teams will meet again next October at Cameron, a place Self has never visited and one he called a potential “bucket-list” destination.
In Other News...
Kansas Fans Already Have One Uncomfortable Tyran Stokes Comparison
Tyran Stokes has only taken the floor in two exhibition games for Kansas, but the early conversation around him is already moving beyond raw talent and into expectation. He has done most of his scoring at the line, has yet to connect from three-point range and is still working through the adjustment to college basketball, which is exactly the kind of early sample that can spark overreaction in either direction.
The uncomfortable part for Jayhawks fans is the company his name has already started to draw. Some of the buzz has linked Stokes to former Kansas player Darryn Peterson, a high draft pick whose college run never quite matched the hype, and that comparison carries a lot of baggage this early in the process. For now, Stokes future impact is still an open question, and Kansas is left waiting to see whether the first glimpse becomes a warning sign or just a rough start. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Homecoming Could Carry Bigger Meaning Than Baylor Game
Homecoming at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is usually about tradition, alumni and a packed house, but this years visit from Baylor also carries a recruiting edge for Kansas football. The Jayhawks will play their 114th Homecoming game at noon CT, and the weekend is set up to showcase not just the matchup on the field but the broader pitch the program can make to prospects.
High school recruits will be in town to see the facilities, the campus feel and the community atmosphere around the program, all of it folded into a weekend that overlaps with the Big 12 Fall Tour. For Kansas, it is another chance to reinforce what the program can offer future classes, with the homecoming setting giving the staff a built-in stage to make the case. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Fans Just Watched An Unlikely Freshman Change Everything At Allen Fieldhouse
Louisvilles 89-83 exhibition win at Allen Fieldhouse did more than hand Kansas a rare preseason loss. It also ended a home exhibition streak that had stretched back to 1993, and much of the damage came from a freshman few in the building were likely expecting to take center stage. Obinna Ekezie Jr. was a force on both ends, putting together a night that included scoring, rebounding and rim protection while helping Louisville keep control down the stretch.
For Kansas, there was still plenty to take from the performance, with Tre White, Melvin Council Jr. and Tyran Stokes all showing flashes in a game that had the feel of a real early test rather than a routine tuneup. But the bigger takeaway around Lawrence is obvious enough: when a young opponent walks into Allen Fieldhouse and changes the tone of the night, people notice. And in this one, Ekezies breakout was the piece that left Jayhawks fans talking. [Read more 🡒]