Is everyone chasing Kansas?

Good morning! And happy October, the month when we’ll see college basketball back on the court with exhibitions and scrimmages. Nothing else happens this month, right?

1. Kansas has everything. Are they the team to beat?

Bill Self’s squad entered last season atop the preseason AP poll. But, like the other three seasons that’s happened under Self (‘04-’05, ‘09-’10, ‘18-19), the Jayhawks failed to make the Sweet 16.

The primary culprits? Lack of depth and lack of perimeter shooting. And Self isn’t doing that again.

Kansas added five players via the transfer portal: Wisconsin guard/wing AJ Storr (16.8 ppg), Alabama wing Rylan Griffen (11.3 ppg, 39.1% on 3s), South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo (18.8 ppg, 39.1% from 3), Miss State guard Shakeel Moore (7.9 ppg), and Northern Illinois guard David Coit (20.8 ppg), plus incoming freshmen Rakease Passmore and Flory Bidunga.

Combine those with returning starters Dajuan Harris, KJ Adamas and Hunter Dickinson and it’s a team with size, experience, athleticism … not to mention depth and shooting.

Is that enough to make the Jayhawks No. 1 again? It is if you’re Jeff Goodman.

Rob Dauster (rightfully, IMO) still has reservations about if Kansas is the obvious No. 1 team, but recognizes this is, at worst, a Top 4-caliber team. Sure, the preseason mojo hasn’t been kind to Self, but this is a program that’s thrived when it has balance and lineup versatility.

So. How does Self find the right mix of playing time for all that talent?

Harris, Dickinson and Adams are locks to start. Those three are the stalwarts, even if they have inherent floor-spacing issues. None of them are perimeter scoring threats. And as Self told Robbie Hummel and Jeff Goodman last week, right now, Mayo likely would be a starter as well.

(Watch the full interview with Self here.)

That leaves Storr and Griffen vying for that last starting spot, though I imagine much of November and December will be spent using different player combinations and lineups. After all, Self loves his freshmen (Passmore drew some Ochai Agbajii comparisons and Self said Bidunga is the best prospect Kansas has had since Josh Jackson) and can’t ignore them.

Kansas will be tested early. It plays North Carolina, Michigan State, Duke and Creighton in the first 31 days of the season, then has a Big 12 schedule with home-and-homes against Iowa State and Houston, plus the rest of that league gauntlet.

If the Jayhawks do meet preseason expectations, they’ll enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed. If the depth does its job, they’ll be capable of a deep run even if they have injuries along the way. And if the perimeter shooting hovers around 36%, they’ll have keep teams from doubling Dickinson down low.

All the pieces are there. And as Self notes, the players know it.

“Our guys like each other, they’re excited about it, and everybody was recruited here with the knowledge of the other guys that were here,” Self said. “It’s not like David Coit didn’t come here knowing that (Dajuan Harris Jr.) was back and Shakeel (Moore) was back. It’s not like Zeke (Mayo) didn’t come here knowing that we returned three starters. I mean — Or Rylan (Griffen). Or AJ (Storr).

“So, I like it. I think it’s a good roster and I’ve said all along, I would like to have eight starters. And when I say eight starters, eight starters that are good enough in a major college game that they can play 20 and 25 minutes. And I do think we have that.”

2. UConn’s first ‘25 recruit is a 5-star + more recruiting news

When you win back-to-back national titles, you reap the rewards. UConn’s got some of those on Monday.

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