NCAA Basketball: Buy or Sell preseason top 25 teams of 2021-22 after a month
3. Kansas Jayhawks
An offseason mishap from starting forward Jalen Wilson saw him be suspended for the first three games of the season. Since then, he’s been coming off the bench, averaging just 4.7 ppg and 5.3 rpg. And yet Kansas still has a top-10 scoring offense and looks every bit of a national title contender, outside of the shocking loss to Dayton in the ESPN Events Invitational.
The Jayhawks have gone small in their lineup, with Dajuan Harris playing alongside Arizona State transfer Remy Martin in the backcourt. With one being more of a passer and the other a pure scorer in Martin, the pairing has looked good so far. But the go-to offensive player has been Ochai Agbaji, the team’s leading scorer at 22.4 ppg. He was known for being a top-tier defender but his offense has broken out in a good way as well, playing like a top 5 player nationally.
This looks to be what Self wanted his team to execute defensively. Champagnie sets screen to get mismatch against smaller Bobby Pettiford. But as Champagnie cuts, KU pre-switches again to get Ochai Agbaji back on Champagnie. Good execution/communication from KU leads to steal. pic.twitter.com/CWAruYci3a
— Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) December 4, 2021
Both sharpshooting Christian Braun and center David McCormack have been just fine as well, with Wilson and freshman Zach Clemence coming off the bench as well. Transfers Joseph Yesufu and Jalen Coleman-Lands also provide backcourt production but thanks to Agbaji’s scoring greatness, they haven’t been needed so far this season.
Outside of Michigan State to start the season, we haven’t seen the Jayhawks be greatly tested against top 25 talent. We’ll have to wait until Big 12 play for that to happen but at the moment, there’s nothing that suggests this team won’t be a contender to cut down the final nets in April.