Bill Self talked about KU's roster and portal recruiting on Thursday
Following KU’s season-ending banquet on Thursday night, Bill Self, surrounded by local writers and news outlets, was asked about the state of KU’s current roster, along with how the transfer portal could potentially impact the roster moving forward.
On March 23, Kansas the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region, saw its season come to an end following a loss to Gonzaga, the No. 5 seed, 89-68 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bill Self’s squad opened up the NCAA Tournament by defeating Samford, the No. 13 seed, 93-89, in Salt Lake City, Utah, but as it turned out, that’s where KU’s NCAA Tournament run ultimately ended.
Now that the dust has finally settled on the 2023-24 season, Kansas, on Thursday night, conducted its season-ending banquet at the Burge Union on the KU campus.
When looking ahead to next season, Kevin McCullar, Jr., Parker Braun, Nicolas Timberlake, and Michael Jankovich don’t have the option to return for another season in Lawrence.
However, Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris, Justin Cross, Chris Carter Johnny Furphy, Jamari McDowell, Wilder Evers, Elmarko Jackson, Patrick Cassidy, Dillon Wilhite, KJ Adams, Jr., and Zach Clemence all have the option to return to Kansas.
Of all the players that have the option to return next season, five, Justin Cross, Chris Carter, Wilder Evers, Patrick Cassidy, and Dillon Wilhite, are walk-ons.
During the early signing period, three high school prospects, Flory Bidunga, Labaron Philon, and Rakease Passmore signed with Kansas, while two portal transfers, Zeke Mayo and Riley Kugel, recently committed to Self’s squad.
Kansas currently has no players in the transfer portal, which would appear to be a good sign for Self and the Jayhawks. It’s also safe to assume that at least two players in particular, Hunter Dickinson and Johnny Furphy, will eventually have to make two separate announcements to make when it comes to next season.
“Not serious,” said Bill Self when asked if he’s had conversations with any current players about next season. "The portal is pretty fluid and as of now, we’ve had nobody enter it. I’m not saying anybody will, but a lot of it may depend on how it goes with recruiting and that kind of stuff.
“It's still up in the air right now,” he added. “But I do feel good about our guys. They are working hard and, as of now, everybody is committed, but you don’t know how that will change, based on recruiting and those sorts of things.”
Looking at KU’s current roster, there is a sense, at least right now, that everybody could potentially return next season. If there's one player that could make a move to the NBA, Johnny Furphy is that player. There’s no doubt that Dickinson and Furphy will make some type of announcement regarding their future plans at some point not long from now.
Kansas isn’t likely to lose both Dickinson and Furphy to the professional ranks. Again, while nothing has been decided, there is a feeling that Dickinson will return and Furphy will test. Should Furphy decide to test the NBA waters, he still has the option to return to Kansas after going through the process.
Kansas, as Self indicated, has a good base coming back next season. However, no matter what happens moving forward, Self fully intends to keep adding pieces to KU’s roster.
“But we do have a good base coming back,” said Self. “So, depending on Juan (Dajuan Harris) and KJ (Adams), Hunt (Hunter Dickinson) and Johnny (Furphy), that's a pretty good base depending on what they all do, Hunt and Johnny. But we've got to go add pieces. We've got to go add pieces. And I'm looking at, you know, whether it be three or four out of the portal
“No,” he added when asked if there is any type of urgency to hear what Hunter and Johnny decide to do. “I think there's urgency to know what they're going to do, but I don't think they'll make their own announcements when the time' is right. But I think we know enough to work around the little bit that we know, but it just hasn't become public yet (what they are going to do).”