@BeddieKU23 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

@Kcmatt7

I think the distinction with Bonke and Thiam is the latter would be a surefire starter and the former they would like as a rotation piece. Bonke is looking for a starting role it sounds. If Thiam does visit that is promising and hopefully we could close there. Apparently getting him isn't exclusive to giving his handler a job anymore so that's also important. Thiam would be a very exciting player to match with Dawes and would be pretty thrilled if it ends up that way

Yeah Bonke is taking a world tour so he will find somewhere that will have him start.

Tiller is almost as old as Dawes. Both players are what they are. Biggest issue with Tiller is his attitude. If you can somehow fix that, he could be great but I am not trusting Dennis Gates to get it out of him.

Thiam has dominated against Flory so there is that. I think in general bigs will get more of a chance to shine for Bill Self so he could very well do better in a structured offense compared to his time at UCF and Cincy.

Personally I LOVE Blyden, I watched 12 "condensed games" of Toledo yesterday and today. I wish they were full games but it still shows a lot of the action. I think he would be our best PG since Dotson. I'm not counting Darryn black hole Peterson as a PG.

@kjayhawks2.0 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

@wissox83 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

Oh I just read he's going to Misery? This is almost a fire able offense for our coach. When a kid would leave major playing time at KU and go there I'm just speechless.

Fireable offense? Guys are just gonna go to the highest bidder and I’d bet after he went to visit Arizona. They probably offered him similar to what we were. I bet Mizzou is doing Mizzou things and over paying for an average player.

Arizona cancelled Tiller's visit there so it never happened.

Blyden would be a starter for sure. EvanMiya ranks him as the 12th most impactful player in the portal. He was 40% on NBA range threes this season. Has some real juice going downhill too. Get it done Bill.

Thiam should be visiting soon as well, per Eric Bossi.

@DCHawker said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

So, Dawes seems to be solid, but is a someone ranked #61 in the transfer portal by ESPN and starter on a bottom tier B12 team really your starting 4? Seems very Tre like? Nice player, but you need to have a lot more talent if you want to compete for a conference title, let alone for a national championship. Perhaps an upgrade of Tiller of last year, but not much more than that?

I still don't get the overarching strategy. As of now, we can't field a competitive team. Dawes, Kinney, Kohl and Mbyia???? The only other name in the portal I see linked to KU is Hill? Compare to Michigan - has an incoming top 5 freshman, got a commit from Estrella, Cadeu and McKenney coming back (without entering the portal), and Johnson is projected to come back (probably not Mara). In the mix for Juke Harris. That is a roster that can repeat. Louisville has three top transfers committed. Texas has gotten 2 top 15 transfer commits. Indiana has gotten Sherrill and Burton. The significant majority of the top 50 consensus ranked transfers have already committed. Wright returning to BYU. Condon returning to Florida (without testing the portal or NBA). Most of the top teams from the past year have multiple starters or key rotation guys running it back; we have none (which is the primary reason KU isn't in many preseason top 25s).

Why do more teams have players that want to return and don't bother with entering the portal? Why are most other teams that lose a lot due to eligibility, NBA or portal able to pounce quickly to fill core needs in the portal while we remain on the sidelines? Does everyone else larger NIL banks?

I find that EvanMiya.com has been far more indicative of future performance than on3, espn and 247 rankings. Really like the analytics approach.

@BeddieKU23 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

New guard target Leroy Blyden Jr. Could be visiting this weekend.
Good Tape. Had good season for a freshman. 40% from 3 on high volume, good rebounding and assists numbers. Hello I've already forgotten Hill...

https://youtu.be/VHQ-5P0yMDA?si=gH33FqmU4i1jR3Cq

Best guard that we have been linked with. If I squint I see an NBA future.

@approxinfinity said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

@CasterTroy is there concern he will go league or pretty confident he will be on campus?

You don't announce the commitment if there is a chance the kid goes pro generally.

Slick Billy might just rope me back in.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in 2026 Transfer Portal Chaos/Madness Thread:

Sorry if a repeat, but just saw this from Jeff Borzello:

The Iowa State Cyclones had five transfers on campus this weekend; all five committed. Remarkable.

Definitely their approach to the portal. We'd be melting down if KU signed any of those guys other than maybe the guard from Bradley. He is good but very small.

@approxinfinity said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

https://basketball.realgm.com/ncaa/conferences/atlantic-10-conference/10/vcu/126/nba-players

Dont sleep on VCU, end up like the twins.

VCU had a better guard room than us last year. KU had the best individual player but he was out half the time and our back end was terrible.

@JAYHAWKFAN214 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

https://x.com/i/status/2043813710800490556pic/video of kohi Rosario

Love this. Rock Chalk.

@Kcmatt7 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

Really hoping Tiller and Rosario can be recruited back. Flory obviously as well

Kohl is up in the air now. Before today he was widely believe to be 100% gone so that is a shift.

Surprised we haven't seen more KU guys announce their intent to enter the portal.

https://x.com/thefieldof68/status/2040848178342150451

My first portal obsession. This guy REBOUND. This guy winner.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in 2026 Transfer Portal Chaos/Madness Thread:

Not trying to bring politics to the thread, but El Jefe has issued an executive order to regulate college sports.

It includes a one time transfer rule. A second attempt requires the player to sit out a year.

I’m gonna guess most college sports fans really dislike the yearly free agency and wouldn’t mind seeing the executive order stick.

(I can make this a separate thread if anybody cares to weigh in)

I read some stuff that said it will basically amount to nothing and is completely unenforceable. It is just showing Congress what the NCAA and others want in a federal bill by using Trump as a proxy.

@crimsonblu22 Yes we recruited him out of highschool and Tony Bland recruited him to Washington. Pretty good player. Kind of like a deluxe version of Council.

Zoom Diallo is interesting.

RE Kohl. Believe he wouldn't mind staying. His dad on the other hand... I think dad wins out in the end.

@kjayhawks2.0 Wouldn't be surprised if Bill is just done dealing with his guardian. Will be telling if the first portal visitor is a big man.

@bskeet said in Bill Self:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7165839/2026/04/02/uconn-women-men-march-madness-financial-nil-comparison/?smtyp=cur&smid=bsky-nytimes

Worth a read about how UConn's finances are doled out to men's vs women's basketball and basketball vs football. Less of a surprise that they are in the FF after reading this.

Yeah they don't care about football at all. KU finally invested there.