Kansas needs a leader; the answer might be Memphis transfer Dedric Lawson
Leadership is a major concern as Kansas heads into the season with a deep roster and the No. 1 ranking.
Kansas has it all. The No. 1 preseason ranking, an unprecedented 14 consecutive Big 12 regular-season titles and a Final Four appearance last season (and never mind that 95-79 destruction by eventual national champion Villanova in the semifinals).
What the Jayhawks don’t have is leadership. Perhaps it will develop but it’s the one aspect of this year’s team that keeps Bill Self up at night (there are other off-court issues that might alter his sleep pattern, but that’s another story).
“Leadership, that’s as big a concern as we have,” Self said Wednesday at Big 12 media day. “We’ve got some young guards who don’t like to talk. They all have to get out of their comfort zone and be vocal. They can lead by example, but we don’t have a coach on the floor yet.”
Even the elite programs have annual problems to solve. The last three seasons, KU was blessed with the leadership of ultra-competitive point guards Frank Mason and Devonte’ Graham. Those two willed the Jayhawks to keep the Big 12 streak alive on teams that had significant depth issues.
Ironically, this season’s team has a stacked roster that is balanced by experience and youth. And therein lies the problem – the Kansas point guard will be lacking experience.
Freshman Devon Dotson was a McDonald’s All-American, as was fellow rookie guard Quentin Grimes. Sophomore Charlie Moore, who sat out last season after transferring from Cal, will probably get the first crack at point guard. Grimes could see time running the point as Self compares the freshman to Deron Williams, whom Self coached at Illinois.
There’s another transfer, though, that could make a compelling argument in filling the void of team leader. Dedric Lawson, a 6-9 junior who transferred from Memphis, roomed with Graham last season. Graham, last season’s Big 12 player of the year, often reminded Lawson about what his role could be this season. It started during boot camp, KU’s dreaded week of conditioning work.
“Yeah, Devonte’ was talking to me last season and telling me how I was gonna have to be the guy leading and helping everybody through boot camp,” Lawson said. “We were roommates and after games we’d spend times in our room choppin’ up what happened. I was watching, and he was playing.”
If it falls on Dawson to be Kansas’ leader, he’s fine with that role.
“I talk a lot at practice and try to help guys feel comfortable,” said Lawson, whose brother K.J. is a 6-foot-8 sophomore who also transferred from Memphis. “When you’re a young guy, sometimes you don’t like to ask questions. I was like that as a freshman and Shaq Goodwin at Memphis helped me out. I’m just trying to do the same things.”
The 6-foot-9 Lawson says he’s comfortable playing anywhere on the front line but believes his best fit is at power forward. That would mean he could play alongside Udoka Azubuike, the Jayhawks’ 7-foot, 270-pound center. That’s a two-man duo that few teams in the Big 12 can match.
Lawson was selected as a preseason All-American by The Associated Press and is expected to be the Jayhawks’ leading scorer. His sophomore season at Memphis in 2016-17, Lawson averaged 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game with 19 double-doubles.
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“What Dedric’s got to do is he needs to be able to play everywhere for us,” Self said. “There’s times where he can be our best point guard. I think there are times he could be our best low-post scorer, so we’ve got to move him around and come up with some creative ways to do that.”
And if there’s a need to run the offense through a power forward, Lawson has that ability. Self says that Lawson passes like a point guard and has gone so far as calling Lawson the best passer – regardless of position – he’s ever coached.
“Dedric’s got vision, he’s got touch and he can see a couple of passes ahead. His IQ and his skills are off the charts,” Self said.
Self compares Lawson’s ball handling and passing to KU Hall of Famer Danny Manning and quickly qualifies that he’s not comparing Lawson to Manning. But if the Memphis native becomes the team’s leader, Self says it’s possible for a team’s leadership can come from a big man because Manning led the Jayhawks to the 1988 national championship.
“Leadership is when it gets hard, it’s a close game, they enjoy it the most,” Self said. “They can make everybody else believe the team is going to win.”