Kansas Basketball: Biggest offseason storylines heading into 2020-21
Who will be the starting power forward for Kansas?
Very few things went wrong on the court for the Jayhawks. But one reoccurring issue they kept facing was who was going to be the player who worked alongside star center Azubuike. As a 7’0, 270-pound behemoth who operates solely inside, it can be difficult for forwards who can’t space the floor to play alongside him. McCormack could only do it for 5-10 minutes at the most, with Ogbaji, Moss, and Christian Braun getting the majority of minutes when Azubuike is on the court.
Even with McCormack a little more mobile, Kansas is still going to have similar issues finding a quality power forward to play alongside. They have plenty of options but none of them have proven themselves at the D-I level to be warranted a starting spot. Former five-star forward Silvio De Souza has dealt with plenty, including a one-year suspension from the NCAA for improper benefits, along with missing the second-half of Big 12 play due to his part of a major brawl last season versus Kansas State. When on the court, he still has had his fair share of struggles to properly develop.
Speaking of developing, that’s what senior forward Mitch Lightfoot has been doing in the past year, considering that he voluntarily sat out and redshirted. His career averages of 2.6 ppg and 2.5 rpg in 10 mpg the three years don’t scream “starter” but he’s a solid defender and very low usage performer. As a senior leader, Lightfoot might get the edge to start.
There is also sophomore Tristan Enaruna, who played 11 mpg last season and Jalen Wilson, who played just two games after getting injured. Both were former top-100 recruits and great athletes but we’ll see what kind of role they’ll get in 2020-21.
It’s clear that the power forward position is up for grabs but if none of these four can warrant 25+ mpg as a starter, look for Agbaji to play a fair amount at the undersized four-spot. That’s doable as long as the other guards play well on the perimeter but for the sake of balance, one of these forwards on the roster needs to breakout.