In recent years, Kansas hasn’t been quite as nationally relevant as we’ve been used to seeing. Since the Big 12 expansion, the Jayhawks have finished 5th, 6th, and 3rd respectively over the last three seasons. Bill Self still brings outstanding talent to Lawrence, though the Jayhawks also haven’t gotten out of the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament since winning the championship back in 2022.
Regardless of how you feel about these recent teams, next year’s squad at Kansas will look significantly different. Darryn Peterson is off to the NBA after a wild freshman year and there’s a sea of others who aren’t back like Melvin Council and Tre White. Including some portal departures and other key exits, Kansas’s most notable returner is Kohl Rosario, a freshman good for just 3 points a game last season.
In refilling the roster, Self and his staff have landed one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, highlighted by top recruit Tyran Stokes. Tay Kinney is a Top 25 recruit and a talented guard while Davion Adkins and Trent Perry are 4-star forwards who’ll certainly find roles. Among their transfer haul, Kansas nabbed 7-footer Christian Reeves from Charleston, big man Keanu Dawes out of Utah, and former Radford scoring fiend Dennis Parker.
Interesting name
In addition to this plethora of enticing names, Leroy Blyden Jr. is another very notable addition and the most important of the incoming transfers. He’s a 6-1 point guard from Detroit who’s fresh off an extremely impressive freshman season at Toledo, becoming the MAC Rookie of the Year. Blyden was quite the talent for the Rockets, putting up 16.4 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while making 41% of his 3-pointers.
Blyden was certainly among the most exciting young mid-major prospects in the transfer portal and he has a chance to shine with the Jayhawks. He showed impressive potential in nearly aspect of his game last year at Toledo, becoming a competent facilitator, a great defender, and a long-range shooter with dependability. How much of that will transfer into life in the Big 12 remains to be seen, but a big step forward as a sophomore could also be in order.
Still an underclassman himself, Blyden steps into what should be a major role adding his presence to a freshman-filled roster. Those other transfer additions will certainly help stabilize a roster in near-total flux, but Blyden clearly has a big role to play. Kansas will hope for big minutes from him likely at both backcourt positions, but what exactly can we expect from the second-year player playing more on the national stage?
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