Kansas kicked off the 2024-25 season with media day on Monday afternoon. JayhawkSlamt.com was on hand and has the latest inside.

A season ago, Bill Self guided Kansas to an overall record of 23-11, including 10-8 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks, minus Kevin McCullar, Jr., and Hunter Dickinson, were eliminated by Cincinnati in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament.

Awarded a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Kansas defeated Samford, the No. 13 seed, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament but saw its NCAA Toruaeamtn run end at the hands of Gonzaga, the No. 5 seed.

Kansas, without Kevin McCullar, Jr., and very little production from the bench, simply ran out of gas against the Zags.

Fast forward to Monday, and for the second straight year, Kansas was tabbed as the preseason No. 1 team by the AP.

While addressing the media on Monday afternoon, Self talked about what currently stands out about the 2024-25 Kansas Jayhawks.

“I would say, the things that stand out to me more than anything, is probably just options,” said Self. “More bodies, more athletes, and I think we shoot it better, even though there will be some days we don’t.

“I do think we’re a much better shooting team,” he added. “I think we’ve helped ourselves athletically, for sure. There’s a lot of things, I think potentially, we can do well and a lot of things we don’t do very well at all right now. It is a different-looking team, physically than what we had this past year.”

Hunter Dickinson spent the summer in Lawrence

A little more than a year ago, Hunter Dickinson, the 7-foot-2, 265-pound center from Alexandria, Va., arrived in Lawrence with the highest of expectations. When all was said and done, Dickinson, in 33 games, averaged 17.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, and blocked 47 shots.

Offensively, Dickinson shot 55 percent from the field, 35 percent from behind the arc, and 62 percent from the free-throw line.

Surrounded by a group of local reporters on Monday, Dickinson reflected back on his summer while participating in his second media day at Kansas.

“Most of my summer was spent here (Lawrence), especially the spring,” said Dickinson. “I was here, kind of working out with Rams (Nijem Ramsey — Director — Sports Performance). I didn’t feel like leaving and wanted to stay with Ram and continue the progress we had.

“I was also trying to get a little bit stronger, especially for the next level, just continuing to add strength to be able to battle with those guys is big. I think that will help me a lot this year,” he added. “You know, continuing to shoot. I got up a lot of threes and trying to be that floor spacer. We’re just trying to add more weapons to this team and more ways to beat you.”

AJ Storr will have every opportunity to make a major splash

Much like Hunter Dickinson last year, AJ Storr, the 6-foot-7, 205-pound guard from Rockford, Ill., will face the highest of expectations this season. This past season at Wisconsin, Storr, in 36 games, averaged 16.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and tallied 22 steals.

Storr, on the offensive end of the court, hit 43 percent of his field goals, 32 percent of his shots from behind the arc, and 81 percent of his free throws.

Participating in his first media day on Monday afternoon, Storr was asked if there are one or two areas where he knows he can step on the court and have an immediate impact.

“Scoring the ball is one,” said Storr. “Two is just playing winning basketball and making the right plays.”Just being out there with my guys and leaving it all out on the floor.”