KU ROSTER 2026-27
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Let's say for the sake of argument that we land Stokes, Miller, and Reeves and nobody else who is good enough to crack the rotation. That gives us a likely starting 5 of:
Kinney
Blyden
Stokes
Dawes
Reeveswith Rosario, Miller, and Mbiya as key bench players.
I think that leaves us with a team that is above average on both offense and defense but is elite at neither (should be top 25 in both but not top 10). It would be a step-up from last year but still not good enough to truly challenge for a title. My guess is a 2 or 3 seed and 2nd or 3rd place in the conference. Hopefully we do add a little more firepower than that. If we get one really good wing AND one really good big we are in business.
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Reeves isn't close to being a P5 starter-caliber big. Couldn't get off the bench in 3 years at Duke and Clemson. Averaged 5 minutes per game year prior at Clemson. Just 21 minutes per game for the Cougars. Okay against lower tier competition, but that's it. Have a place near Charleston and follow the Cougars. No way should he be starting for the Jayhawks - at best a 10-12 minutes back-up against B12 competition.
Sadly, I don't see that line-up being any improvement over the past 3-4 years - arguably worse. One starter who would have P5 experience...
ESPN assessment on "blue bloods" today:
"Work to do: Kansas has a massive amount of work to build a roster that can compete next season. The Jayhawks' top target is No. 1 recruit Tyran Stokes, who they appeared on track to land until a recent trip to Kentucky cast doubt on their status as the front-runners.
Kansas has hosted a long list of players from the portal, although Terrence Hill Jr. (Tennessee) and DeSean Goode (Miami) have committed elsewhere. Charlotte big man Anton Bonke was on campus last week, as was Utah transfer Terrence Brown, though UNC appears to be the favorite for Brown.
With Blyden committed, Self needs a scorer with size on the wing. Vyctorius Miller (Oklahoma State) is among the players on the Jayhawks' list for that role. In the frontcourt, Cincinnati transfer Moustapha Thiam -- one of the best bigs left in the portal -- is among their targets, though he is visiting Michigan this week."
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I’m getting higher on Reeves. The advanced numbers are really good. He led the SoCon in PER, TS%, Rebound%, Block%, ORtg, WS/40, and OBPM.
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Same here. I just looked at his game log and it looks like something clicked with him about halfway through the season. The second half of the season he was elite but his season stats are dragged down by a poor first half
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@Jayhawk_69 16/10/2 his last 13 games, 12 as a starter. That changes things for sure.
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But we do have to wonder whether it was a legit breakthrough or a Linsanity situation
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Very excited for Blyden actually. I expect big things out of him. Analytics put him as a top 20 ish overall portal get. We will see if he translates up seamlessly
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Hoping our backcourt has more size than 6-1 and 6-1. Blyden maybe a microwave off the bench?
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I don't think backcourt size matters that much. If we have a big frontcourt I will be pleased
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@FarmerJayhawk said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
@Jayhawk_69 16/10/2 his last 13 games, 12 as a starter. That changes things for sure.
Guys, having seen a couple of Cougars games, I think you are deluding yourselves. He is a solid mid-major big and can be effective against smaller front-lines. But that was the SoCon. There is a reason he didn't play in 3 years at Clemson and Duke. He is Mbiya with more experience, although I think Paul has more upside. Good to have a big body off the bench, but he would be unplayable against a mobile or stretch 5.
We keep going after mid-major guys - I guess they are cheaper? - while the top teams (not us any longer?) are getting the best of the proven P5 transfers or first team mid-major all-conference.
Why is that Indiana has 6 high major transfers committed and we have just two? Both Sherrill and the SMU transfer are better front court guys than Reeves.
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@Jayhawk_69 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
" ....is like criticizing a cake for tasting bad when you haven't even put it in the oven yet."
Actually, that is how you can find out you used salt instead of sugar in making the batter.
Okay, it’s how I found out. A mistake not likely to be repeated (mostly because my lovely wife does all the baking) (except pizza).
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Looks like Mbiya will have to make a portal decision by tomorrow. maybe Stokes is just waiting for that before he commits!
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Gabe Dynes is going to visit. Hopefully just meant to be a depth piece
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@Jayhawk_69 We are really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Dynes scored a total of 4 pts in the Trojans last 6 games, all losses.
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@Jayhawk_69 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
Gabe Dynes is going to visit. Hopefully just meant to be a depth piece
He stinks
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has Paul entered the portal yet today ? Has to be today or he is here next yr
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@TYOHawk WTF are we doing? Just waiting on Stokes? He gets the big bag if he commits, but we don't have anything left for a quality 5? And if he doesn't - what then? I guess we would have money to pay for a good big, but there are only a couple left. And then we would still need a scoring wing? Anyone left worth pursuing? Any dollars to pay them? 80%+ of the top transfers have already committed - the talent pool is diminishing quickly. Blackwell to Duke today (which also is getting Ngongba back and probably Sarr, along with the top incoming class). Muruaskas to ASU today. Brown to UNC today. What do we have today - announcement that a minor bench guy for USC might be visiting?1?
After today, it doesn't matter to us if guys testing the NBA waters come back to school unless they are already in the portal because it will be with their current team.
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Stokes will get about 1/3 of the total budget, so to build some depth you have to moneyball the roster some. Assuming that gets done, as it should, the wing spot will be set. Miller can play 1-3, Kohl can play 2-4, so that’s a solid bench on the perimeter. We’re pursuing a Landen Lucas type role player at the 5. There’s plenty of scoring punch 1-4, just need a garbage man who can rebound, protect the paint, and occasionally score. I’d like to have another veteran ball handler off the bench. But a core 8 of Kinney Blyden Stokes Dawes Reeves Miller Rosario Mbiya is really solid. Then a deep bench of the other frosh and another veteran guard.
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That all sounds fine but it sounds like we are putting all our eggs in the Stokes basket when he hasn't committed anywhere yet
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For some reason our basketball culture has been damaged. Why don't we have situations like this:
