KU ROSTER 2026-27
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February: The core team was clicking and seemed to be gelling as DP reintegrated into the lineup. Flory and Bryson were playing like Jayhawks for life. Jamari and ElMarko were contributing and seemed poised to be next year's ambassadors as veterans in Self's system. Meanwhile, Kohl wasn't playing and the word was that he was unhappy, Paul was a project, all but forgotten.
April: it's like we've entered the upside-down. Kohl is the only player planning to return. Everyone else has entered the portal and most seem unlikely to return.
Very disorienting state of the program.
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@DCHawker said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
To those who have more insight into the internal workings, is there actually a plan to build a roster? Nothing discernible to outsiders. Waiting on Stokes (please, I hope that isn't the case)? Focused targets in the portal, or waiting to see other entrants over the next week? At this point, we can barely field a team, and not one that can win a game. There is a good reason why we aren't in the way to early rankings for probably the first time ever.
Several of the top portal guys are already committing. I've never seen anything like the entire roster jumping ship absent a coaching change. Is the expectation that we can pull a Michigan and draw (and pay for) 5 high level P5 starters? Or, at least at UConn with 4 along with Kinney or Kohl? Any word on the latter? It seems like the only guys we are in on at this point is more non-P5 guys - is that the best we can do? Some cancelling visits with us and committing elsewhere.
We've seen the evolution of Self's approach to the portal evolve from going after the best available players and KU being absolutely terrible on defense. Last year, we saw Self put an emphasis on defense, but the offense was wildly inconsistent because KU didn't have anyone consistent from 3 other than Peterson. KU needs shooters and hopefully Kohl stays because he does fit that profile, but you still need a couple of other players that can make upper 30% from 3. You still need to maintain the level of defense from this past season too.
The question is always do you take as many players as possible early, or do you wait for some.guys to withdraw from the draft as those are the higher ceiling players and you still absolutely have to have future NBA talent to win championships in college basketball.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
The question is always do you take as many players as possible early, or do you wait for some.guys to withdraw from the draft as those are the higher ceiling players and you still absolutely have to have future NBA talent to win championships in college basketball
The latter is the high-risk, high-reward approach without a safety net.
The staff would probably say 'do both' and try to thread the needle. Not sure how realistic that is.
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And most of the fans here will say Bill can't adapt no matter which strategy he tries.
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@bskeet said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
@Texas-Hawk-10 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
The question is always do you take as many players as possible early, or do you wait for some.guys to withdraw from the draft as those are the higher ceiling players and you still absolutely have to have future NBA talent to win championships in college basketball
The latter is the high-risk, high-reward approach without a safety net.
The staff would probably say 'do both' and try to thread the needle. Not sure how realistic that is.
There are guys in the portal now that you could build a contender with. I don't understand the idea of not getting some key early starter level commits. Save one or two slots for the guys that don't stay in the draft. Louisvile already has Flory and Shelstad committed.
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@DCHawker Louisville has more money than us.
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You can't overpay in this day and age of college basketball. With what Flory was asking, I'm glad we didn't keep him. If we play our cards right we can get someone as good or even a little better for half the price.
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@BeddieKU23 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
Supposed to have more then last yr but the problem is prices are way up so I'd bet it's a wash. I think there are other factors besides the money that's an issue
What are those issues? Why would Flory want to go to Louisville, if not the money?
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@approxinfinity said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
@DCHawker Louisville has more money than us.
Is this true? Louisville? An Adidas school in the ACC?
If so, that's really frustrating because I thought we were the flagship Adidas school for MBB. Also, ACC doesn't have the media deals that the B1G and SEC have. ACC and B12 should be relatively equal.
So how is it that Louisville has more $$ pull than Kansas? Not saying it's not true-- just wanting to understand.
Rock Chalk!
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@bskeet said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
@approxinfinity said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
@DCHawker Louisville has more money than us.
Is this true? Louisville? An Adidas school in the ACC?
If so, that's really frustrating because I thought we were the flagship Adidas school for MBB. Also, ACC doesn't have the media deals that the B1G and SEC have. ACC and B12 should be relatively equal.
So how is it that Louisville has more $$ pull than Kansas? Not saying it's not true-- just wanting to understand.
Yum brands is HQ’d in Louisville and donates an ass ton to the AD
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Well, that isn't that a kick in the pants since plenty of YUM's revenue come from franchises started in KS.
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@bskeet yes i thought it was when i looked at the list of supposed top spenders from a few years ago. They were near top we were in the teens. Who can really say? Def not me.
