Kansas basketball: Lack of transfers somewhat surprising

Kansas basketball is returning almost everybody from their 2020 season, which is at least a little bit surprising.

The Jayhawks only lost three players from their team last season: seniors Udoka Azubuike and Isaiah Moss, plus sophomore Devon Dotson. To be honest, the fact that Kansas basketball didn’t lose anybody due to transfers is a little bit surprising.

Both forward positions and the center position are especially packed with talent due to the emergence of Christian Braun last season. As of now, Braun, Ochai Agbaji, Jalen Wilson, Tristan Enaruna, and Tyon Grant-Foster will all be battling for playing time.

Since David McCormack is the obvious choice to start at the center position, Mitch Lightfoot and Silvio De Sousa will probably be coming off of the bench.

No matter who starts and who doesn’t, the Jayhawks will have some incredible talent coming off of the bench. All of the Jayhawks contending for playing time could start on most other teams in major conferences, so it’s kind of surprising but also a good thing that none of them transferred.

Transferring has become something fairly regular now in the world of college sports, for better or for worst. Whatever your opinion is, the transfer portal has become a sort of pseudo-free agency, and it allows players to gamble with their talent.

For Kansas, the fact that nobody transferred is a good sign, and it shows that the players trust the program and head coach Bill Self. That, and that they all have confidence in themselves.

Obviously, the deep bench will be a huge advantage for the Jayhawks next season. The competition for minuets should also help produce an even better product on the court, since everyone is so talented.

Despite losing two All-Americans, Kansas basketball should be locked and loaded for next season. A Big 12 title is well within the Jayhawks’ reach, and so is a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.