Just back from Las Vegas!

We had a good trip. There were a zillion Jayhawks walking around. love that. I don’t get to say Rock Chalk very often out here on the West Coast. Everybody was fired up to beat the Dookies.

Getting into the game was a bit weird for my wife. They turned her away because her purse was larger than allowed. Oddly they also turned away a lady with a newborn and a diaper bag. So, she had to scramble to run across the street to the hotel to ditch her bag! I guess we don’t go to many events and had no clue that size matters! We got there plenty early, so she didn’t take long to make it back.

The atmosphere in the arena was just crazy. I’d say there was a slight Jayhawk lean in the crowd. Lots of Duke fans as well. But, you could really hear the Rock Chalk chants loud and clear. I may be a bit clueless, but do any other schools chant like KU does? Duke didn’t have anything but a subtle “Let’s Go Duke!” boo. The arena DJ had the crowd hopping.

One very weird thing about the arena…they didn’t really have a scoreboard. Weird. You know how it’s often placed on a wall here or there, or an electronic scroll. nada. They’d have it up on the big monitor thing sometimes as the game was on, but there were times i was like: how much time is left? What’s the freaking score? They did post some player stats in a few corners.

About the fans: Lots of happy Jayhawks everywhere. Plenty of Duke losers. We did lots of standing during the game. The Jayhawk fans behind us said that was pretty much the norm at the Fieldhouse. So, they were used to it. But, it was mostly because of “that guy” Duke fan. Just maniacal. Most of the fans around us were fine, but there’s always that one guy. Wore his Duke jersey, with no shirt underneath. Sister Hazel hat on backwards. SCREAMING profanities at the top of his lungs while standing most of the game. crazed. Cliche. Oh well, it was nice to see him weep when the game ended. Oh, and just to hammer on Duke some more…there was another totally classless Duke fan dude playing table games in our quiet little casino. Just making a top of his lungs screaming ass of himself. Everybody in the entire place pretty much kept turning around to look at him, wondering WTF was up. Jail soon?

Otherwise lots of camaraderie

So about the Hunter flagrant 2…we really had no clue what was happening in the arena when it happened. We saw him make an exceptional second effort rebound, fall, but that was about it. Seemed like a Duke player undercut him and should have been called for a foul. After a really long delay, they booted him. We really didn’t know why or what the hell happened. I have to watch the replay.

Dajuan was awesome. He did some crazy baseline dribbling that had me worried, but others have posted that they actually practice that.

Bidunga. I was honestly very worried about him playing, especially when Hunter went out. Didn’t feel any comfort when he dribbled the ball off his foot on a post up! But he stepped up big time. Love it. Oh, and that Duke center was HUGE!!!

KJ was by far the MVP. He pretty much shut down Flagg, except for that massive dunk.

And Storr started! WTF? Has coach said why? I thought he played great.

Zeke is oddly smooth with the ball. he shakes, stutters and finds pockets of empty space to make something happen. impressive live.

Hunter was way off his game early. Put up some bad shots. He kinda got in the flow later.

It seemed that momentum changed more than a few times after KU was up big. The crowd was buzzing, then silent when KU would hit a dagger.

And KU is still undefeated in Vegas with me watching! 3-0! I’ll take credit.

Rock Chalk

My brain is scrambled with all this portal movement, so thought I’d create a thread for me at least to track incoming, outgoing and potential lineups.

And I’ll edit (10) as the chaos unfolds!

SPOTS AVAILABLE (13 scholarships used. At limit)

INCOMING (8 so far)

Flory Bidunga, freshman, C

Rakease Passmore, freshman, SG

AJ Storr, via portal, SG, SF – two years of eligibility left

Zeke Mayo, via portal, G – one season of eligibility left

Rylan Griffen, via portal, SG, SF – two seasons of eligibility left

Noah Shelby, via portal, PG. will redshirt as a walk-on – two seasons of eligibility left

Shakeel Moore, via portal, PG, senior

David Coit, via portal, PG – Northern Illinois, senior

OUTGOING (5 so far):

Kevin McCullar, SG, SF

Nick Timberlake, SG

Johnny Furphy, SG, SF

Parker Braun, C

Labaron Philon, freshman, PG, CG (decommited)

KINDA LABELED OUTGOING

Riley Kugel, SG, SF — never made it to campus from Florida

RETURNING (6 so far):

Dajuan Harris, PG

Hunter Dickinson, C

KJ Adams, who knows what position!

Elmarko Jackson, PG, SG — Out for season with injury

Jamari McDowell, G, SF

Zach Clemence, C

PORTAL POTENTIAL:

I’m getting ready to head off to Vegas. Go Hawks!

This will be my third KU game in Las Vegas. So far the Hawks are a perfect 2-0 with me in attendance. C’mon 3-0! Although that KU/Florida game was close.

@BShark said in Transfer Rumblings:

@FarmerJayhawk said in Transfer Rumblings:

Tyson isn’t coming to KU. Other than that, who knows!

Only other thing I know right now is Udeh isn’t decided EITHER way.

Dang, that’s sad to hear. We are not gonna find a Hunter in the portal every year. Development is huge for bigs. And there’s something to be said about team chemistry. Guys need time to adjust to each other. Stick around, Ernest!

Always nice to beat the sheep lovers!

Fun with the boxscore:

16-21 FTs

We attempted 21 FTs!!! That is fantastic for us.

Of those with double digit minutes played

AJ Storr was -11 in +/-

Hunter and Zeke were 20+ point scorers / and Dajuan with 15, filling that third scorer role mostly necessary to win. Sure wish Rylan or AJ would fill this role, or be a fourth double digit scorer

With so much player movement in the NBA, i wanted an easy place to remind myself who’s where! So, a list of former Jayhawks in the NBA (some who left for other schools). Please add any i missed!

SG Svi Mykhailiuk – New York Knicks

SG Quentin Grimes – New York Knicks

SG Kelly Oubre Jr – Charlotte Hornets

G Christian Braun – Denver Nuggets

SG Josh Jackson – Toronto Raptors

PG Marcus Garrett – Miami Heat

PG Devonte Graham – New Orleans Pelicans

PF Markieff Morris – Brooklyn Nets

C Joel Embiid – Philadelphia 76ers

F Ochai Agbaji – Utah Jazz

C Udoka Azubuike – Utah Jazz

SF Marcus Morris – Los Angeles Clippers

PG Devon Dotson – Washington Wizards

SF Andrew Wiggins – Golden State Warriors

@wissox said in KU / Duke Takeaways:

@rockchalkjayhawk Fun report! Weird that there really weren’t scoreboards around. Self had mentioned it at one point in the postgame.

Thanks!

Did Self really mention that as well? Crazy. i’m guessing coaches need access to that info!

Oh, just to add to the fun trip report…

The night we arrived (as some of you did as well), there was a road rage murder at a casino ride share pick up zone. The already packed streets were basically shut down.

Also, on our return flight, things got weirder. We landed, hit the runway, and basically pulled over for 10 minutes or so. The captain gave us some b.s. excuse. We started moving closer to the gate, then stopped yards from the gate. more captain nonsense. We eventually pulled up to the gate, then instantly the crew came on the speaker saying NOBODY MOVE! we’re all like, huh? 10 minutes later STAY IN YOUR SEATS! DO NOT GET UP! now it’s getting crazy. Everybody is looking around for a terrorist or something. Odd phrases kept coming over the speakers: LINE 1. LINE 1. STOP. etc. we are all nervous and crazed at that point.

So, the captains are now out of the cockpit, looking weird near the front hatch. Moments later three cops come on the plane. at that point, we’re thinking we’re going to die or something. So, they stop midway through and point at a kid. then move to the back of the plane, passing us. And adding oddness to the already oddness: My wife says “Hey i went to high school with that cop” as he passes us.

So they chat with a dude with a lanyard around his neck in the back, then move back to the front and grab the previously mentioned kid, cuff him and take him off the plane.

Moments later on the loudspeakers: YOU’RE ALL FREE TO GO NOW! weird.

No clue what that was about. must have had a warrant on the kid or something, and knew he was on the plane.

So we exit and of course more cops are just outside the plane door.

I won’t even get into the weird guy who didn’t appear to live in our reality who was arguing with my wife about boarding numbers at the Southwest gate!! She’s like “I’m B18”… and he goes bonkers nutso. Oh, and he approached again after we landed! I gave him the evil eye and we scrammed before his reality melted in a bad way.

AND, we grab our luggage and vamoose out the front door of the airport as fast as possible, only to find cop chaos outside. A dozen cop cars and cops screaming and yelling at cars and people, with flashing cop cars lighting up the night. Such a weird return flight!

At least the Uber driver was polite…

How’s this for synchronicity:

Ochai and Gradey each had 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I FREAKING LOVED that Hunter held on to that jump ball! Love to see him get fired up.

Ha, i remember the posts with pictures of our opponent’s campus and surrounding city. those were good ones!

@BShark said in The portal.:

@rockchalkjayhawk said in The portal.:

@BShark said in The portal.:

@kjayhawks He was encouraged to leave.

Too bad about Passmore. He looked like he had potential on D, and he has the proper size and athleticism to compete. I was hoping he’d stick around a few years or so as a foundational piece.

I saw a few flashes this year. Obviously limited viewing opportunities.

These are the kind of guys Bill develops.

Yeah, I wish there was time to develop anymore…

I think things are going to have to settle down with transfers and NIL in a year or two.

We have to weather the storm. And hope Self is the right guy to deal with fresh players every year. Off the top it sure doesn’t seem like it.

@BShark said in The portal.:

@kjayhawks He was encouraged to leave.

Too bad about Passmore. He looked like he had potential on D, and he has the proper size and athleticism to compete. I was hoping he’d stick around a few years or so as a foundational piece.

I saw a few flashes this year. Obviously limited viewing opportunities.

These are the kind of guys Bill develops.

The roster is shrinking pretty quickly here.

More news coming soon I assume.

@TYOHawk said in Swirling Bill Rumors:

@BShark said in Swirling Bill Rumors:

@TYOHawk said in Swirling Bill Rumors:

FWIW I’ve heard as long as Coach Self is here…Darryn will be here.

This is pretty much the deal.

Glad you’re hearing what I’m hearing on this.

Like I said Shark is my brother…but I’d just give Coach some time man. This has been a SEASON. I can’t imagine how taxing emotionally it was on the players and the staff…hell we feel it as a fanbase.

Kind of Self-inflicted though! ha. or

@approxinfinity said in Staff changes for 2025-2026:

Ok. Thanks guys… do you feel the absence of a GM will put us at a competitive disadvantage this off season? Do we have enough cabbage to field the roster we want?

Without any semblance of transparency in this new NIL era, these questions are impossible to answer.

For any public institution, all $$$ transactions should be recorded for all to see.

Who knows, maybe Self and Co. are brilliant money managers.

I posted this on the Portal thread, but does anybody even know if Flory is eligible for NIL cash, being from another country?

Wait, clueless question here:

Is Flory eligible to receive NIL riches? I thought foreign players were restricted?

Well, let’s sit back and pray Bill brings in a rebuilt, monster of a roster.

Jeez. Sounds like the ship is sinking.

Should we still have faith in Bill Self?

What’s the word?

@BShark said in The portal.:

Flory is in officially now

wtf??? Noooooooo!!! damn.