@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.

@MN-Hawk Definitely a tough one to sort out. I believed, all along, this day would come and Both Tre and Mel would obtain at least temporary approval. Both will be challenged, and I wouldn't be surprised if we go 1 for 2. I know Melvin's outside shooting is subpar, but when looking at this team, maybe what we need most from him is his junkyard attitude and energy. I'm thinking we should have solid trey shooting this year. Actually... I wouldn't mind seeing Melvin be our 6th man. Imagine that energy he will bring off the bench! Looking at Melvin's stats... he's solid, except for outside shooting. Melvin is a team cheerleader. I can think of so many Self teams that needed someone who could spark the team! Just my opinion.

The hell with it... time to bring science into D1. For next year... each team is allowed two robots (height restricted to 7'). Each team is allowed two legacy players, including DNA-built guys who already died but now reanimated. Finally, I get to see Wilt play for Kansas!

We do really need a ball handler. This will show up big time by March without depth in that area. Maybe we will be pleasantly surprised by someone developing into that role where we weren't counting on it. As of now, I see Stokes having to handle the ball too much. Typically, I'd panic because I know that means we are asking him to do so much... especially for a freshman. He is likely to get worn down as the season progresses. He's a gifted, tough athlete with tough alpha mentality, but he hasn't played a year in the B12. It's a rough conference.

I'm still hopeful we will clear and bring on at least one guy that can make a difference. D1 is such a mess. Time is of the essence now and you have to watch to see who is enrolled in classes and who isn't.

We are approaching the deadline for adding classes this semester. Athletes need to be enrolled to qualify. If not enrolled, they will not qualify to play until possibly the spring semester. There has been talk that if Council gets status to play another year he might go to another school. I find that unlikely if he's already enrolled here and not somewhere else. This is just my opinion... do any of you have more info or can challenge what I'm saying here?

Painful game to watch. Alumni on both sides seem to have forgotten their teachings from college days. Curious what Self thought of that game. If you want to call it that. It reminded me of all the old boxers that fight long after their prime... except these guys aren't that old, except a few, like Mario. Just glad we didn't have to face Beasley again. The dude can still ball but his psychobabble was wearing me out.

For God's sake... let them out!

I grimaced reading how they think they are keeping college sports alive. They have been perhaps the single worst culprit for tearing college sports down!

https://www.foxsports.com/articles/cfb/could-the-sec-really-break-away-commish-says-conversations-are-real-but-thats-not-what-they-want

@approxinfinity said in Darryn Peterson:

I have a feeling passing on Peterson for Dybantsa, who will be an All Star, will not age well.

You could be right. I always heard that DPs game was a perfect fit for the NBA, more than Dybantsa or Boozer. I think this will really show through in summer league, where no one plays defense or even knows what defense is. Watch DPs highlights. Looks like high school defense against him. It's like he went back to high school. Let's pass judgment after he makes it through a real season. Defense starts happening in late spring. Also... can he play through injuries? That same question is valid for all 3 comparison guys. It should be fun watching these guys translate their game to the league!

@bskeet Yes... would have loved his defense. But we might improve at the 5 on offense!

@stoptheflop said in Darryn Peterson:

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about 3 hours ago

I saw an article pointing out Darryn's low 2.2 assists per game as a big negative for NBA purposes. But, we know that's not all on him because all the KU players just stood around when DP had the ball and I don't think I saw any type of offensive sets run while DP had the ball.

True... but DP could have hit them a few times while they were opened and encouraged them to try to get open. Everyone was at fault.

It points to poor communication. Even though DP was out for many games, it's hard to believe we had this many games and the guys couldn't communicate and click better.

I point the finger at Self. He overhyped DP. It made the other guys feel inferior. And DP is a cool kid that wasn't about ego. There should have been better connection!

What position where DP goes in the draft is usually more about what teams get to pick first and what are their needs. Or a team that wants DP badly might not be at the top of the draft choosing so will trade for him. Those details have already started with teams. DP could go first and then be traded immediately.

@FarmerJayhawk

I don't know how much I even believe that number. We just landed another recruit today and it didn't seem like we still had NIL available if it was only $14 mil.

@FarmerJayhawk

Sounds logical. But why is everyone throwing around this number of $14 mil NIL budget we have this year?

I was just reading about Louisville's high reliance of private NIL for their basketball program. It looks like their institutional direct-revenue sharing NIL for this campaign is $20.5 mil. I wonder what their total spending on NIL will be? Didn't we recently receive a huge donation directly to our AD from the Booth family? I'm reading that our rev share to basketball players is a little over $14 mil. I know we have the cost of the football stadium dampening our balance sheet but this could be Self's last year and it seems weird we don't show more appreciation.

I don't know... seems like we gave up on playing defense anyways after our last nattie. The exception being Flory. Even Flory didn't go after every ball. Granted, he was also trying to stay out of foul trouble.

@wissox83 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

BBN a rare breed?

"Rare" doesn't imply quality.... just uniqueness... including bad!

I could be way off base here... but I have a feeling Self hasn't shown his hand yet. I've heard all the rumors we have maxed out on our $14-$15mil budget (if that is the amount). It just makes no sense Self would come back for this year with that budget... a budget limiting us to a middle-of-the-pack roster. Maybe we need the current drama to play out a bit more so we can get a late donor or two to kick in some big bucks. We could do some real damage with another $5mil to spend. There are plenty of nice pieces left. I wouldn't mind pairing Momcilovic with Stokes. Imagine Stokes hard drives and pass outs to Milan for the easy trey. My biggest concern is at the 5.

Last, Self is the master of picking up someone special late in the game. He's done it before... but we do have to have financial incentive available.

I see Bashir as an option if we are down to spending very little. Isn't his defense in question?

I've been following the Stokes saga this entire time, and I do so by blogging both KU and UK ball. The BBN is a rare breed. They make Mizzou fans seem tame. Thank God our fanbase has a bit more class and also has limited fanaticism. The BBN tormented Stokes this entire time... piercing what limited privacy he had and harrassed him constantly. So when you read about Stokes smacking down UK, you know why. Stokes is a fighter! I know we were all high on our dawg last year, but Stokes is on a different level. Some say he goes overboard because he'll rip his own teammates and coaches a new one at times. It's the next level of dawg. Hopefully, we will all adjust to this level of scrap. Personally, I'm psyched! And my ex would never call Stokes a p*ssy! lol

@Jayhawk_69 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

Thought experiment: Would you rather Stokes commit or would you rather 5for5 pass and Tre White return?

How about both?

I feel certain the Stokes decision will come down this week. Both UK and KU... the loser loses bigger now as the options dwindle.

@Kcmatt7 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

The issue is that this was supposed to be regulated but it basically hasn’t been. Collectives aren’t supposed to exist anymore.

Whole thing is a mess.

I don't think the NCAA is wise to step into regulating private NIL. The lawsuits will come and I don't see how this is their jurisdiction of control.