Bill Self is heading into his 24th season at Kansas with the same offseason problem that always seems to follow a roster reset: figuring out who actually belongs in the starting five.
That question is even messier this year. Kansas has spent the offseason tied to multiple players seeking extra college eligibility, and until the NCAA sorts everything out, the Jayhawks’ roster picture remains unsettled right up to tip-off against Fordham on November 2 at Allen Fieldhouse.
The uncertainty comes after Kansas was forced to rebuild through the NCAA Transfer Portal. The Jayhawks brought in four transfers: center Christian Reeves from College of Charleston, small forward Dennis Parker Jr. from Radford, guard Leroy Blyden Jr. from Toledo and power forward Keanu Dawes from Utah.
They also added a sizable high school class featuring forward Tyran Stokes, guard Taylen Kinney, center Davion Adkins, forward Trent Perry, shooting guard Luke Barnett and depth pieces Atticus Richmond and Grant Mordini.
Trying to sort all of that into one coherent lineup is no small job, especially with Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. in the mix. Isaac Trotter of CBS Sports took a stab at it anyway, and his projected first five gives Kansas a fairly familiar shape with one especially interesting battle at shooting guard.
Trotter’s lineup has Taylen Kinney at point guard, Blyden at shooting guard, Tyran Stokes at small forward, Keanu Dawes at power forward and Paul Mbiya at center.
He also listed Kohl Rosario, Parker, Reeves, Barnett, Perry and Adkins among the top reserves.
Rosario is the name that jumps out. As Trotter put it, “Kohl Rosario is going to push for a starting gig, thanks to his elite athleticism, defense and rebounding, but at some point, he has to make shots in games.”
That tension makes the shooting guard spot one of the cleanest battles on the roster. Rosario began last season looking like a player ahead of schedule, even though he was expected to be a high school senior. His form faded as the year went on, though he did get back on the floor late and showed flashes of his best again in the final stretch.
Whether Rosario starts may come down to how Kansas wants to handle its backcourt. Early signs suggest the Jayhawks are leaning toward a combo-guard setup.
If that’s the direction, Blyden makes a lot of sense next to Kinney because he offers more ball-handling and creation than Rosario. Rosario, though, brings defense that Kansas clearly values.
Trotter summed up the balance this way: “Kansas' defensive projection gets firmer if Rosario becomes one of KU's best five players, but the Jayhawks can't be the best version of themselves offensively without Leroy Blyden Jr. hitting right away. That Blyden-Rosario battle will continue into the regular season but could be watered down if Kansas adds starters like Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. back in the five-in-five market.”
In Other News...
Kansas Fans Have A New Reason To Worry About Quarterback
Isaiah Marshalls first season guiding Kansas has been steady enough on the surface, but not quite smooth enough to quiet the questions that tend to follow a young quarterback. Through three games, he has put up decent production and shown flashes of the talent the Jayhawks need from him, but the early stretch has also included enough rough edges to keep the conversation going around the position.
The unease only grows when another former Kansas quarterback starts making noise elsewhere, especially one who is off to a fast start at Miami (OH). Marshall has already dealt with some shaky moments in the operation around him, including mishandled snaps, and those kinds of plays can make a quarterbacks job harder than the box score suggests. For a Kansas team looking for stability, the biggest concern is not just the numbers, but whether the position can settle down before the season gets any longer. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Bye Week Suddenly Carries More Weight Than Fans Realized
The calendar is starting to tilt toward Kansas final nonconference date, and the Big 12 has now locked in a detail that changes the feel of that stretch run. The Jayhawks home game against Middle Tennessee on Oct. 3 will arrive as their first Saturday morning kickoff of the season, a spot on the schedule that tends to reshape everything from pregame routines to the atmosphere in the stadium.
It also gives Kansas one more unfamiliar wrinkle before league play takes center stage, because the Blue Raiders are a first-time opponent for the program. With the matchup landing on national television and coming at the end of the nonconference slate, it now has the look of a game the Jayhawks will want to handle cleanly before the real grind begins. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Bye Week Brings A Harsh Reality For Bowl Hopes
Kansas enters its bye week at 1-2, and the pause arrives with a clear reminder that the path to six wins is getting narrower by the day. ESPNs Football Power Index has the Jayhawks down at 67th among FBS teams, and the models updated game-by-game projections paint a season that still has opportunities left, but not much room for error if Kansas wants to stay in the bowl conversation.
The most immediate pressure point comes when the Jayhawks return to action, because the schedule offers little chance to ease back in. Kansas will spend the week sorting through the rest of its forecast, including the updated win probabilities and implied betting spreads that now frame each remaining matchup, with the trip to Utah looming as the kind of game that can quickly tilt the entire outlook one way or the other. [Read more 🡒]