Kansas spent last season searching for easier offense, and the numbers made the problem pretty clear. The Jayhawks finished No. 150 nationally with 13.9 assists per game, a sign that the ball often stalled instead of flowing. That lack of creation was a big reason the group looked so disjointed.
Darryn Peterson took plenty of heat for it, mostly because he entered with a reputation as a playmaker and ended up doing far more scoring than setting others up. He averaged just 1.6 assists per game, though Bill Self pushed back on the idea that Peterson was supposed to be the team’s main distributor, calling him a “shooter-scorer.”
Peterson, though, was only part of the issue. Kansas never found enough secondary creation behind him.
Melvin Council Jr. led the team with a little over five assists per game, but the drop after that was steep. Tre White finished at just 1.8 assists, and that kind of gap left the Jayhawks short against top-tier competition.
Self’s latest NCAA Transfer Portal class is aimed at changing that.
The big question now is simple: who becomes Kansas’ primary creator? Three names stand out.
Tyran Stokes is the most obvious candidate. The nation’s No. 1 incoming player in the class of 2026, the small forward just wrapped up his high school career at Rainier Beach High School in the northwest. There’s already a strong case that Kansas wants the offense to revolve around him, and that would mean plenty of touches and likely more possessions where he initiates things himself.
Stokes already showed he can handle that responsibility. MaxPreps lists him at six assists per game last season, so he is not just a finisher. If Kansas lets him run the show, his passing numbers could climb even more as the offense opens up around him.
Taylen Kinney is another name to watch. In his final two seasons at Overtime Elite, the incoming guard averaged 5.5 assists per game, including a jump from five assists in the 2024-25 season to 6.1 in his final year. He also put up 701 points and 197 assists across those two seasons, which tells you he can fill whatever role Bill Self needs.
Leroy Blyden Jr. rounds out the group. The combo guard is coming off one of the more electric freshman seasons in college basketball, finishing with 16.5 points and 4.5 assists. Even so, his game last season leaned more toward scoring than passing, with an ability to attack the lane and create his own offense.
That makes the pecking order fairly easy to read. Blyden looks like the least likely of the three to become the central creator, while Kinney brings the most obvious all-around balance. Still, the strongest long-term bet is Stokes, especially if Kansas keeps building the offense around his ability to control the ball and make plays.
By the end of the 2026-27 season, Stokes looks like the safest pick to lead the team. The Jayhawks are clearly shaping the offense with him in mind, and with his size, skill and comfort on the ball, that feels less like a bold prediction and more like the direction Kansas is already heading.
In Other News...
Two Key Jayhawks From The Title Team Suddenly Face Uncertain Futures
Two familiar names from Kansas 2022 title run are suddenly in a different kind of spotlight. Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson, both former Jayhawks who have carved out NBA paths since leaving Lawrence, reached the offseason with their futures tied to Brooklyns roster decisions after each spent time with the Nets last season.
Agbaji, a 26-year-old guard-forward, was acquired from Toronto and appeared in 20 games for Brooklyn, while Wilson, a 25-year-old small forward, was a more regular presence over 54 games. Now both are on the open market, and for Kansas fans who watched them grow into championship pieces, the next stop for each player is suddenly one of the more interesting subplots to track. [Read more 🡒]
KJ Adams Is Finally Getting The Chance Kansas Fans Hoped For
KJ Adams spent the past year around Kansas in a different role than the one fans were used to seeing, helping out as an assistant video coordinator while he worked his way back from the torn Achilles that ended his college career. The rehab kept him close to the program, and it also gave Jayhawks followers a reminder of how much he still meant to the roster and the culture even after his last game had already been played.
Now Adams is set to get back on the floor in a meaningful way, with Summer League offering the first real look at where his game stands after the long recovery. He is also part of a broader Kansas presence in this years event, with several former Jayhawks taking part, and his return adds another layer of interest for a fan base that has been waiting to see him compete again. [Read more 🡒]
Lance Leipold Is Giving Kansas Fans A Recruiting Sign They Rarely See
Kansas footballs 2027 recruiting class is starting to look like something Lance Leipold can point to as proof the programs trajectory is changing. The group already has more than 10 commitments and includes a four-star tight end, with the rest of the class made up mostly of three-star prospects. For a fan base used to seeing Kansas near the bottom of the Big 12 recruiting picture, that alone is enough to feel like a meaningful step forward.
The bigger sign is where the Jayhawks sit now compared with where they have been. Kansas is in the middle of the conference recruiting standings, a notable jump from the cellar-dwelling days of not long ago, and the class is being viewed as a foundation rather than a finished product. With the 2026 season still ahead, Leipold is giving Kansas followers a reason to think the roster pipeline may finally be trending in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]