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Published Jun 5, 2023
Harris talks new leadership role, team experience
Joe Blake
Staff Writer

The 2023-2024 Kansas team comes into the season with a lot of experience from a lot of different places. Dajuan Harris is the most experienced Jayhawk, as his 77 career games started at Kansas leads the team. With the loss of Big 12 Player of the Year Jalen Wilson, Harris looks forward to taking on more leadership.

“I know I’ll have to be a better leader than I was last year now that J-Will is gone,” Harris said. “I’ve got to show the new people how it is around here and help the coaching staff out.”

Among the new Jayhawks is Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson, who started 89 games as a Wolverine. Harris, who averaged 6.2 assists per game last season relishes having a big man that scored 18.5 points per game to pass to.

“I just have to get him the ball at the right spots,” Harris said. “Coach is gonna run a lot of plays for him. So basically I just got to give him the ball, he’s got to make something happen.

Also bringing a lot of experience to the Jayhawks is Kevin McCullar, who recently pulled his name from the NBA draft to play a 5th season of college basketball. McCullar was a finalist for the Naismith Defensive player of the year, making him and Harris an intimidating defensive backcourt. Harris, who won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, thought his teammate was going to win the award instead of him.

He’s one of the best defensive players in the country,” Harris said. “We think we can guard anybody in the country.”

Another player who brings good defending and experience is KJ Adams. Adams, who took home the title of the Big 12’s Most Improved Player, will likely see more time as a power forward this year with the addition of Dickinson at 7-foot-2. Adams spent most of his time last year as the center, and held his own at 6-foot-7.

Adams has posted videos on his Instagram story of him shooting jumpers early this offseason, something that excites his point guard.

“If he gets that going, he could be a problem for real,” Harris said. “I know we’re going to be working on it all summer.”

Harris also mentioned that Adams cooked dinner for everyone on Saturday night, calling it a “great start to the offseason.”

Harris spent some of his recent time away from the team watching his former teammate Christian Braun play in the NBA Playoffs. Harris got close to the Braun family when he and Christian played for MOKAN together, and he cited what Christian’s brother Parker can bring, calling him “more athletic” than his younger brother. Braun comes into Kansas with four years of college basketball experience under his belt.

With all of the experience that this new Kansas team has, head coach Bill Self will continue look for his point guard that played over 34 minutes a game for him last year to lead Kansas next season.

Kansas
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Updated: Jan 29, 2025 3:05 am
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