Can Kansas run it back?

Today's newsletter is loaded with news — it's not often a coach is dismissed this close to the start of the season — so let's get to it.  

STARTING FIVE

1. Title celebrations over, Kansas build the pieces for 22-23

Kansas basketball lived its best life this summer. 

The Jayhawks, basking in the glow of a national title, barnstormed through the state, much to the delight of fans. They made public appearances, donated NIL money to charities, and basically enjoyed the life of a champion. And why not?

They checked all the boxes in their 34-6 season: a natty, Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles, plus a bevy of individual accolades, including All-American and Final Final MOP honors for Ochai Agbaji. But that's all in the past. How does one properly evaluate a team that lost six of its top eight players, yet is still a preseason Top 5 team and potentially a national title contender?

It brings in help. The Jayhawks added four freshmen and perhaps the best player in the transfer portal in Kevin McCullar.

So I also brought in reinforcements: Matt Tait (editor at the Lawrence Journal-World), Gary Bedore (KU beat reporter for the KC Star; nobody's covered KU for longer), and CJ Moore (Big 12 writer for The Athletic). They're here for the Insider's POV. Consider it a free supplement to the already extensive coverage in The Almanac. 

So, Matt. What's the vibe around the team?

Matt Tait: There's been a lot of talk early on about turning the page from last season's title run and refocusing to try to do it again this year. A lot of current Jayhawks were a part of last year's team but only a few of them actually played any meaningful minutes. Because of that, getting locked in for another run has not seemed hard at all for this team. This group is hungry, focused, deep and confident that it has what it takes — both mentally and in terms of talent — to try to go back to back.

As Jalen Wilson said on the Field of 68 AFTER DARK Tuesday night, it probably wasn't until Late Night in the Phog a few weekends ago that the team made the full transition. Once the championship banner was hung, that was the last bastion of the title run. Self also spoke about this yesterday. "There's always pressure to win," but now perhaps the new players won't feel it as much — and maybe even less pressure from Self.

If you think Self sounds relaxed, you're right. He's a guy who's in rarified air thanks to two NCAA titles. Even the ever-looming IARP decision (entering Year 5) doesn't seem to faze him. 

Gary Bedore: I think Bill Self is in a good state of mind entering the season. He's in it to help develop young players' skills and minds, sure, but he's also passionate about winning, and winning a second title had to be quite fulfilling.

Self in accordance with NCAA rules worked out members of his 2022-23 team during the summer school session in June and July. He and his wife Cindy were busy moving from one house to another in town and Self was hobbled by a late-summer lower leg injury (cracked tibia) that had him using crutches for a short period of time. Nothing particular caused the injury, he said, just wear and tear over time.

He's said he's 100 percent heading into this season. I think he's had a good attitude about the three-year NCAA infractions case. If he's worn out working with school officials and attorneys regarding the case, he hasn't shown it. Personally, I think he's a one-day-at-a-time type of person who doesn't stress about things too much. That's my take anyway.

OK, so it's a new team. And the only seniors are McCullar and Cam Martin, who redshirted last season. On other programs, that could create a challenging dynamic among the players. Not here.

Tait: There's no question that the Jayhawks are Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris Jr.'s team. The two returning starters from the 2022 title team are the clear leaders and they also have the respect of everyone on the roster, including the coaching staff. Their leadership styles complement each other very well — Wilson leads with energy, intensity and confidence and Harris lets his play do his talking but also can speak up when needed — and they've played a lot of big minutes and been in a bunch of important games as Jayhawks. In most of those, they were role players on someone else's team. But they know that it's their time now and it's crystal clear that they're excited about the opportunity to lead this group and put their stamp on Kansas basketball in a new way.

It'll certainly be a team that focuses on its wings. As noted in The Almanac, Kansas doesn't have a reliable interior presence (yet). How will Self address this? Could Wilson or KJ Adams see time at the five for a true small-ball lineup?

CJ Moore: I think Self's preference is to play one of his true centers, but no one has won the position yet. He calls them 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D. Because of that, he's probably more open to the idea of throwing out some unconventional lineups. But KJ Adams says he's been practicing mostly on the wing and for him to get more minutes at the 5, he's going to need to rebound. In limited minutes, his defensive rebounding numbers were not good last year. But early on, I think Self is going to go off feel and give multiple guys a shot every night. His ideal scenario is one of Zach Clemence, Ernest Udeh or Zuby Ejiofor emerges as the clear-cut best option. 

In The Year of the Big, that's a missing piece for Kansas, but it may not be as evident during Big 12 play. The league was not only rated as the best in the nation last season but boasted the best defenses as well. Seven of the conference's 10 teams ranked in the Top 20 of KenPom's defensive efficiency metric, which catapulted middling offensive teams such as Iowa State and TCU to the NCAA Tournament.

Moore: It's definitely emerged as the best defensive league in college basketball. It's strange that more teams in other leagues have not adopted the side defense because of the success of teams like Texas Tech, Baylor and Iowa State running it. That could be one of the reasons the Big 12 has done so well in the last few tournaments. Those teams are used to seeing great defenses every night and then opposing teams aren't used to that level of defense and also aren't used to the no-middle. One characteristic this year could also be it's one of the few power leagues where the guards and wings are the best players. Elsewhere it's the year of the big man, but not in the Big 12.

If there's a coach who can adapt to not having a big man, it's Self. He's aware of Kansas' relative inexperience — he frequently said "it'll take time" during media day — and has a team that could feature different pieces throughout November and December. By the time conference play rolls around, we'll have a better idea of if Kansas could make a serious title defense.

2. Manhattan's mess

It's sub-optimal to fire your coach less than two weeks before the season starts. So Manhattan's decision to fire coach Steve Masiello on Tuesday caught the college hoops world by surprise. 

Because this reasoning doesn't make sense. From the school's release:

Recruiting season begins soon? There's a story somewhere that'll eventually explain the timing (early reports are that it is contract focused, but that must've been some disagreement), but for now, we'll focus on what's ahead for the Jaspers.

Associate head coach RaShawn Stores will serve as interim head coach this season, which seemed promising. Manhattan was picked to finish second in the preseason MAAC poll and boasts the preseason POY in Jose Perez. 

However, Perez is livid and subsequently entered the transfer portal. Multiple reports surfaced Tuesday evening that many of his teammates may do the same. Manhattan students, lace 'em up because your program might need you.

Masiello was 162-177 in 12 seasons at Manhattan, including two trips to the NCAA tournament.

3. Coping with injuries

As the season draws near, there are more than a few teams closely monitoring injuries to key players. Among the most notable:

• Dayton guard Malachi Smith injured an ankle last week and didn't play in a weekend scrimmage against West Virginia (he was wearing a walking cast). Coach Anthony Grant confirmed a "lower body injury" after Tuesday's practice. There's no timetable for Smith's return, which is never a good sign. How the Flyers, a preseason Top 25 team, handle their point guard's absence will be a major storyline to start the season.

• Oscar Tshiebwe said Tuesday that his knee is "feeling great," but Kentucky coach John Calipari says they're "not going to push him."

• Auburn freshman Chance Westry is questionable for the Tigers' opener. He was slated to start before his knee surgery.

• There are seven healthy players at Seton Hall, which is stressing out coach Shaheen Holloway.

• Texas Tech's Fardaws Aimaq is still recovering from a foot injury and isn't expected to return until Big 12 play.

• Villanova freshman Cam Whitmore, UConn junior Andre Jackson, and Duke freshman Dariq Whitehead, will all be evaluated in November. There's also been no update on USC freshman Vince Iwuchukwu, who learned he suffered a cardiac arrest this summer, or Washington State big man Dishon Jackson, who is out with an undisclosed medical issue.

However, it's not all bad news on the injury front.

• Jaden Akins is out of a walking boot and is on track to play in Michigan State's Nov. 7 opener.

• PJ Hall still hasn't been cleared for contact but may return at some point next month for Clemson.

• Pitt may have John Hugley and William Jeffress for its Nov. 7 opener.

• Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens was named to the preseason All-MWC team, which sounds promising for being out "indefinitely" with a foot injury.

4. Southland pays tribute to Darius Lee

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was tabbed as the Southland Conference favorites on Tuesday, edging out two-time reigning regular-season champ Nicholls State. 

Normally, that'd be the main story for any preseason news about the league. But credit the league coaches with a classy move for Darius Lee, who died of a gunshot wound in June.

The Southland doesn't normally award a preseason POY, but this is fitting. Lee led Houston Christian in scoring and rebounding last season, and even dropped 52 points against McNeese in the regular-season finale, the highest point total by any D1 player. He finished as a second-team all-league player in 2022.

5. Jerry West Award (mostly) gets it right

We don't need another award rant, so I'll simply take a deep breath and calmly note that while the list of 20 preseason candidates for the Jerry West Award (given to the top shooting guard) is an improvement on the Bob Cousy list — with one significant caveat. See if you can guess.

Where is RJ Davis? He was omitted from the Cousy list. Adding him here seemed likely, but no, so I'll be clear: RJ Davis is a Top 30 player in the sport.

I'm sure he'll be on the midseason list.

THE FAST BREAK

Links as you wonder why an Ant Man movie wouldn't have Michael Peña.

• For Indiana and Illinois fans: The Illini have the easier path to the Big Ten title.

• Wisconsin added Jack Robison, a 3-star wing in the class of 2024.

• Loyola Chicago grabbed 2024 combo guard Jack Turner.

• Sacramento State picked up 2023 recruit Bowyn Beatty from the NBA Global Academy.

• Ed Cooley is thriving but hasn't forgotten his roots.

• A more in-depth story about the coal miner who became fast friends with John Calipari. It's like reading a warm hug.

THE FIELD OF 68 AFTER DARK

Big 12 beast, yet again

Can Kansas repeat? Will Baylor claim another conference crown? Or will TCU, Texas or Texas Tech get to the Big 12 mountaintop? 

The Field of 68 AFTER DARK is streaming every night with a different preview for each league. All those questions (and more) were asked an answered by Rob Dauster, Terrence Oglesby and Randolph Childress — with a special guest appearance by Jalen Wilson.

Subscribe to The Field of 68 AFTER DARK on YouTube here and subscribe here to the AFTER DARK.

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