The Kansas Jayhawks are coming off a fairly disappointing 2024-25 campaign. It wasn't all bad, but Bill Self's group did not live up to expectations as a potential title contender. The Jayhawks finished sixth in the Big 12 with an 11-9 conference record (21-13 overall), which earned them a No. 7 seed in March Madness. The result was a first-round loss to John Calipari's Arkansas in a battle of college basketball's winningest postseason coaches.
As "fun" as the Hunter Dickinson era was, Kansas is finally ready to move in a new direction. Bill Self has historically built his rosters a certain kind of way — focused on hammering the transfer portal and building what continuity he can between upperclassmen. That's not to say Self doesn't recruit the occasional five-star frosh, but Kansas is generally an older team rooted in brute physicality, a high-octane point guard and savvy, tough-minded college vets.
That won't entirely change this season. Self has already made a few high-profile portal additions, including Tre White from Illinois, Melvin Council from St. Bonaventure and Jayden Dawson from Loyola Chicago. KJ Adams will also return for his fifth and final season in a Jayhawks uniform.
But the bones of this roster are definitely different. More than ever, Self is leaning on youth and relative inexperience to elevate Kansas beyond last season's results.
Bill Self has built the Kansas roster with dynamic underclassmen
This all starts of course with Darryn Peterson, the early favorite to go No. 1 in a loaded 2026 NBA Draft. Peterson is an incredible guard talent with plus size and athleticism for his position. The track record for top freshmen producing under Self is complicated, but Peterson has stood out at every level of high school competition so far. He immediately raises the ceiling of this Kansas team.
At 6-foot-6, Peterson has earned comparisons to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for his incredible footwork and dexterity as a ball-handler. He deploys stop-start handles, able to shift gears and decelerate on a dime. He's a money mid-range shooter, with ineffable touch on pull-ups and floaters. Factor in elite defensive playmaking and solid passing vision, and it's hard to poke a lot of holes in Peterson's game. He needs to prioritize the development of his point guard skills at Kansas, but when it comes to finding total-package scorers on the perimeter, few prospects in recent memory compare to Peterson.
We've seen plenty of top picks come through Self's program. Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid and Josh Jackson come to mind. But none were on Peterson's level as a readymade offensive centerpiece. It's hard to win it all with an 18-year-old as your centerpiece — even Cooper Flagg couldn't get over the hump — but Peterson gives Kansas its best shot of a deep run in ages.
Kansas' young talent stretches far beyond Darryn Peterson
While Peterson will command the spotlight and a high usage rate in Self's offense, he's not the only underclassman Self will lean on next season.
Sophomore Flory Bidunga returns for his second go-around in Lawrence. He should see a dramatically elevated role. Bidunga began last season as a projected lottery pick here at FanSided. He never really put together a consistent stretch of production as the Jayhawks' backup five, but the athleticism is off the charts. Bidunga fits a classic rim-running mold, with the strength, explosiveness and agility needed to overcome a relative lack of height for his position.
Even in limited minutes, Bidunga was a remarkable defensive playmaker on the back line for the Jayhawks last season. He should be in line to start now, with Peterson setting him up for pick-and-roll and transition finishes on offense. If Bidunga can make a leap as expected, that will help — a lot.
Former five-star recruit Elmarko Jackson will also return from a redshirt sophomore season, during which he recovered from a torn patellar tendon. Jackson struggled to carve out a role as a freshman in 2023 — typically a theme of Bill Self rosters — but now in his second active season (and third year with the program), Jackson will be called upon to translate his incredible athleticism into shutdown defense and timely off-ball finishes on offense. If the redshirt sophomore can remind folks of why he was so highly touted upon his arrival in Lawrence a couple years ago, NBA scouts and college basketball fans alike will catch on.
To round things out, Kansas recently secured the commitment of 6-foot-11 Congolese big man Paul Mbiya. The 20-year-old from NBA Academy Africa was initially committed to Will Wade and NC State, but he reopened his recruitment and landed with Kansas. The Jayhawks desperately need additional size next to Bidunga, so Mbiya should inherit a significant role out of the gate. With a 7-foot-5 wingspan and incredible defensive playmaking numbers at his prior stop with ASVEL Villeurbanne in France, Mbiya is an under-the-radar addition with a chance to dramatically improve Kansas' outlook in the Big 12 and beyond.
Self needed to change things up and try a new approach to team-building with so many key seniors leaving. He gets credit for putting together a tantalizing collection of talent. Now, we see if he can make it all gel.