NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early top-25 power rankings for 2021-22 season

Along with a few bench players who didn’t get much playing time, the biggest departure for Kansas Basketball this offseason is senior point guard Marcus Garrett. Although he’s not the greatest pure distributor of the ball, Garrett still was an elite defensive guard that averaged 11.0 ppg.

The question for the Jayhawks will be who their new starting point guard will be, with rising sophomore guard Dajuan Harris and recent Louisville de-commit guard Bobby Pettiford, Jr. For Kansas to have Final Four aspirations, they’ll need to probably land a big-time transfer from the portal that’s a proven high-level point guard.

But the reason why I have Kansas in the top-10 is that they’re pretty stacked up everywhere else. Leading scorer Ochai Agbaji (14.1 ppg) is coming back, along with sharpshooting starting guard Christian Braun. The frontcourt duo of Jalen Wilson and David McCormack also are back after combining to average 25.2 ppg and 14.0 ppg this past season.

There’s also a good amount of depth off the bench, including former top-25 guard Bryce Thompson, 6th-year senior Mitch Lightfoot, and Sydney Curry, considered to be the top JUCO big man in the 2021 recruiting class. There’s also a pair of four-star incoming freshmen forwards in KJ Adams and Zachary Clemence, who can stretch the floor.

I’d feel better if the Jayhawks can add another ball-handler from the portal but they have elite wing and frontcourt depth that’ll be problematic for any opponent they’ll face. As long as the guards can shoot the ball well, they’ll be in contention to get back their Big 12 crown.