KU ROSTER 2026-27
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Really mixed feelings about this development. Council arguably raises the floor for the team, but also lowers the ceiling. Whose minutes does he take? Kinney, a 5* recruit who is a legit PG? Blyden a combo guard, who also comes from a non-Power 5 conference, who had better stats his freshmen year than Council has had. Definitely a much superior shooter. Same with White. High floor but not particularly high ceiling - his production has been consistent throughout his career. He is a solid role player. Is he really an upgrade on a second year Kohl or Parker?
Depth has been a chronic problem in recent years. That shouldn't be the case this year. But depth only matters if you take advantage of it.
I think this all can only work if HCBS completely changes colors and will play 10 guys significant minutes. Big and small line-ups. Constant pressure with fresh bodies. "Starters" - Dawes, White, Stokes, Blyden and Council? Second line (thinking hockey analog) - Mybia/Reeves, Kohl, Barnett/Adkins, Parker, Kinney? I would really like at least Kohl and Kinney to get meaningful playing time to be able to develop.
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Yea, this seems to be the year to expand your rotation for sure.
I count 11 guys who should play decent minutes.
That leaves out Trent Perry, Luke Barnett, Atticus Richmond, Will Thengvall and Grant Mordini.
The others seemingly deserve PT.
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I could get behind the feeling that Melvin does not raise our ceiling, but to say he lowers it is categorically false. Many many great teams, including some that have won national championships, have started guards who are not good 3-pt shooters.
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@Jayhawk_69 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
I could get behind the feeling that Melvin does not raise our ceiling, but to say he lowers it is categorically false. Many many great teams, including some that have won national championships, have started guards who are not good 3-pt shooters.
I don't think that Council's ceiling is particularly high. IMO, both Blyden and Kinney have higher ceilings, which was my point.
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@DCHawker That is probably true, but it doesn't mean that Council limits the team'a ceiling
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@DCHawker did u see Tre play summer ball?
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@crimsonblu22 Just a few highlights. I really hope he can step it up. But for 4 years in college with 4 different schools and conferences, he's been basically the same player. His numbers last year were nearly the same as his sophomore year (better 3pt%).
I like him and I like Council. But the fact is that with both of them and the #2 in the draft, we just weren't very good.
So, we replay White and Council. Swap Stokes for Peterson. Is Dawes/Mbiya/Reeves better than Flory? Blyden is probably a step up. But is that enough to turn a 20 win team into a 30 win one? Maybe with a much, much better and deeper bench - but again, only if we take advantage of that depth...
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@Jayhawk_69 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
I could get behind the feeling that Melvin does not raise our ceiling, but to say he lowers it is categorically false. Many many great teams, including some that have won national championships, have started guards who are not good 3-pt shooters.
He is inefficient on offense as a whole. I could live with the 3pt shooting, it’s the 4/17 games with 12 missed floaters.
IMO he has to take a major step forward in shot selection (or shot making).
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That is only a problem if Council is the go-to guy on offense. He mostly was last season because Darryn didn't play and White and Flory aren't very good at creating their own shots.
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@DCHawker said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
@crimsonblu22 Just a few highlights. I really hope he can step it up. But for 4 years in college with 4 different schools and conferences, he's been basically the same player. His numbers last year were nearly the same as his sophomore year (better 3pt%).
I like him and I like Council. But the fact is that with both of them and the #2 in the draft, we just weren't very good.
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@DCHawker said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
@crimsonblu22 Just a few highlights. I really hope he can step it up. But for 4 years in college with 4 different schools and conferences, he's been basically the same player. His numbers last year were nearly the same as his sophomore year (better 3pt%).
I like him and I like Council. But the fact is that with both of them and the #2 in the draft, we just weren't very good.
So, we replay White and Council. Swap Stokes for Peterson. Is Dawes/Mbiya/Reeves better than Flory? Blyden is probably a step up. But is that enough to turn a 20 win team into a 30 win one? Maybe with a much, much better and deeper bench - but again, only if we take advantage of that depth...
Peterson was the best player on the team, but he was the one who wasn't a great fit. Peterson is much more of an iso player which is also partly why he chose Kansas so he could expand his game. The cramps and being in and out of the line up in the early season killed his chemistry with everyone else. KU was actually pretty good when Peterson was out because they had chemistry.
I will agree that White and Council shouldn't be KU's leading scorers this season, but White should be either the 2nd or 3rd leading scorer behind Stokes and potentially Dawes. Council at best should the 4th leading scorer.
I'm expecting Self to play a lot of small ball this year with Council, Blyden/Kinney, Stokes, White, and Dawes playing together a lot. Mbiya will provide size, but I don't see him being ready to contribute on offense much yet. Fortunately, we should be done with the 2 big line up so ce KU only has two true post players in Mbiya and Reeves and neither should be on the court together ever.
"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -
@Texas-Hawk-10 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
Peterson was the best player on the team, but he was the one who wasn't a great fit. Peterson is much more of an iso player which is also partly why he chose Kansas so he could expand his game. The cramps and being in and out of the line up in the early season killed his chemistry with everyone else. KU was actually pretty good when Peterson was out because they had chemistry.
Agreed, I feel like we are rewriting last year a bit. Peterson in and out of the lineup really messed with the team consistency, but they showed flashes of being a really good team. Council had to take on more of an offensive load than was ideal because of this and his efficiency reflects that. Last year's team had no other reliable ball handlers and our offense would have been a whole lot worse if he hadn't stepped up when DP was out. And when DP was in, he warped the offense and the team never seemed to figure out how to best play around that.
One or two of Blyden/Kinney/Stokes emerging as a reliable secondary creator should help Council quite a bit.
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@Kcmatt7 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
@Jayhawk_69 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
I could get behind the feeling that Melvin does not raise our ceiling, but to say he lowers it is categorically false. Many many great teams, including some that have won national championships, have started guards who are not good 3-pt shooters.
He is inefficient on offense as a whole. I could live with the 3pt shooting, it’s the 4/17 games with 12 missed floaters.
IMO he has to take a major step forward in shot selection (or shot making).
He’s such a terrible shooter. This season is gonna be miserable watching him if he tries to play like last season.
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With our roster full I put together a wee chart of how I see our lineup playing out in a typical game:
position - starter (minutes) - backup 1 (minutes) -backup 2 (minutes)
1 ----------- Council (28) -------- Kinney (6) ---------- Blyden (6)
2 ------------ Blyden (22) --------Kinney (10) ---------- Stokes (8)
3 ------------- White (20) ------- Rosario (10) ---------Stokes (10)
4------------- Stokes (16) --------- White (12) --------- Dawes (12)
5 ---------- Dawes (20) --------- Mbiya (20)minutes leaders: Stokes (34), Dawes (32), White (32), Council (28), Blyden (28), Mbiya (20), Kinney (16), Rosario (10)
I went with a small starting lineup because that seems to be our most talented group. Plus this would still be a good rebounding team despite being small. I guessed Rosario and Mbiya would beat out Parker Jr, Barnett, and Reeves due to experience in the system, but it would not surprise me if any of those three guys beat someone out to get minutes.
I understand that game scripts will change lineups and minutes. This is just a sample of what I think minute distribution could look like in a typical Big 12 game.
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Ha, I’ve been wanting to discuss the starting lineup for sure, but I’m gonna wait some more until this legal nonsense sorts itself. Who knows what next week will bring…
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Might as well discuss the current as of today team while we can!
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Ha, well what the heck. My this week players in the rotation:
PG Melvin Council Jr. -- backed up by Taylen Kinney
G Leroy Blyden Jr. -- backed up by Kohl Rosario
G/F Tre White -- backed up by Dennis Parker Jr.
G/F Tyran Stokes -- backed up by Keanu Dawes and Davion Adkins
F/C Keanu Dawes -- backed up by Paul Mbyia and Christian Reeves
Of course this lineup could go big, but then somebody would have to hit the pine.
The guy getting hosed the most: Davion Adkins. I wanna see him play lots of backup minutes. Need a bouncy athlete like him learning on the floor. Block some shots and just be an athlete.
The guy getting hosed the second most: Take your pick ... Paul Mbyia or Christian Reeves.
My thoughts, or maybe my hopes:
-- Every excuse i heard about the last few teams included "oh, xxx player was just tired. thats why we lost. Self just wore down his players with too many minutes." So, i'm praying that Self realizes he can't wear players into the ground every year and hope to succeed. IF he plays 10 guys (ha), i think we can be very competitive with the mix of players we have. The drop off between starters and bench guys isn't massive. But, TBD with guys like. Kinney.
-- Kohl: This is the big question mark for me. Has he improved enough to not be a liability on defense? Can he really shoot? He hustles of course, and has the potential with his size to be a defensive troublemaker ... but will his footwork allow him to be? Does he have a decent basketball IQ? TBD this year. hope so!
My fears:
-- Self will once again tighten his rotation to like seven or eight guys. There will be angry dudes causing team locker room issues.
-- Council and White will eventually by ruled ineligible. that will eff up this team beyond belief. And ruin trust between Self and the remaining squad.
-- If we go with the smaller front court lineup, bigger teams will take advantage down low. Dawes is not the ideal C.
-- TBD how Stokes plays or thinks about playing defense. I hope he commits, as Self prefers of course.
-- Somebody (Parker Jr) will leave the team mid season.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:
Peterson was the best player on the team, but he was the one who wasn't a great fit. Peterson is much more of an iso player which is also partly why he chose Kansas so he could expand his game. The cramps and being in and out of the line up in the early season killed his chemistry with everyone else. KU was actually pretty good when Peterson was out because they had chemistry.
I will agree that White and Council shouldn't be KU's leading scorers this season, but White should be either the 2nd or 3rd leading scorer behind Stokes and potentially Dawes. Council at best should the 4th leading scorer.
I'm expecting Self to play a lot of small ball this year with Council, Blyden/Kinney, Stokes, White, and Dawes playing together a lot. Mbiya will provide size, but I don't see him being ready to contribute on offense much yet. Fortunately, we should be done with the 2 big line up so ce KU only has two true post players in Mbiya and Reeves and neither should be on the court together ever.
I concur. Last year isn't really a window into this year's team with Tre and Melvin. It was a disaster to have an iso player like Peterson, especially in and out of lineups and then expect the team to just bounce into operating as a team. If these guys stay healthy this year and can develop a good chemistry, we should reep the real potential they offer. Some of Melvin's stats from last year should improve when he's not counted on to be the guy who has to force many last second shots on the shot clock. I think our post players will mostly offer us a counter to other teams with capable bigs. Hopefully, they'll come along and find ways to earn their weight. I'm fine with going small ball. I always have been, especially with the potential of this team to rebound small. In some ways, this team reminds me of 2022. McCormick was always criticized, but in the end, he was just enough to help us to the promised land.
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@rockchalkjayhawk I agree with this post almost completely... lotta great stuff here and I totally agree with your lineup ideas.
While watching TK in the FIBA U18 in June, to me, he didn't look like he was anywhere near ready top lead the Jayhawks at point guard. I was pulling for him to show the ability to play extremely solid ball and yet he just seemed to lack the size and decision making skills at this point in his career. Not to say he can't develop this year into a force by March. And as you suggest in your post, I hope Self gives him plenty of PT to see if he will progress at a fast rate if he is turned loose at times.
Hoping that one of the bigs steps up and is so good that it makes Coach Self want to play big.
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