where do we stand on kansas?
Kansas entered the season as the preseason AP #1 team in the country, and the favorite to win the national championship. And I, myself, had them at the top as well coming into the year. Now, it sits ranked #7. It is 4-3 in Big 12 Play and 16-4 overall following a loss at #23 Iowa State.
So here we are, still really unsure of what Kansas is as a team. It’s had some major wins over teams such as Tennessee, UConn, and Oklahoma. But, it has also had some really questionable losses, such as UCF and West Virginia.
The issue for the Jayhawks has remained the same all season, and it’s really the level of talent it truly has. It has absolutely no depth, and really seems like a four-man squad at times.
Hunter Dickinson is playing like the best big in the country not named Zach Edey, averaging 19 points and 11 boards, and Kevin McCullar might be the best player in the entire Big 12 right now. He’s putting up just about 20 points a game to go along with 6 boards, nearly 5 assists, and over a steal a contest.
We knew how good of a defensive player McCullar was, but his offensive game has taken maybe a bigger step forward than anyone in the country, going from 11 points per game a season ago to nearly 20 in 2024.
The main thing is, outside of those two superstars, Kansas has little to no consistent offense on a nightly basis. KJ Adams is solid, but not a “go get me a bucket” kind of guy, and we’ve still yet to see DaJuan Harris display any sort of aggression and initiative to score on the offensive side of the ball. With the amazing passer and defender he is, we were hoping he’d take a step forward in not only his scoring numbers, but the amount of shots he takes at all, and we really haven’t.
Australian freshman Johnny Furphy has definitely gotten better as the season has gone on and is shooting nearly 42% from the 3 point line. But, outside of that, Bill Self is still searching for any sort of depth.
Kansas currently ranks 353rd in the country in bench minutes, and has really been looking for that fifth starter all year. It seems to be Furphy, but he isn’t a consistent enough piece to bring you to the next level.
Obviously, the Jayhawks are playing in the best conference in the country, and a 4-3 record leaves them in this “middle of the pack” area. But they are sure not a lock anymore to win this conference’s regular-season title, and aren’t even a lock to not be playing on day one of the conference tournament right now.
For me, Kansas has definitely left any conversation in terms of true national championship contenders. Even with the best coach in the country, I just simply do not think they have the pieces at all to get it done. There is no reason to believe DaJuan Harris’s scoring prowess will get any better, and there aren’t even five true starters on this team. And for that reason, to quote Shark Tank, I’m out.
*all statistics taken from espn.com and kenpom.com