Kansas basketball: Returners who could be All-Americans in 2021

Kansas basketball will have a lot of talent next season and these three, in particular, could be some of the best in the nation.

Kansas basketball will be losing two second-team All-Americans next season in Udoka Azubuike and Devon Dotson; however, the Jayhawks are still going to be title contenders. They’ll be returning quite a few players and adding some too, and there are plenty of contenders for All-American selections.

For starters, Marcus Garrett is definitely in contention to be one of the best overall players in the country. The senior won the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award last season in addition to the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award, solidifying himself as a defensive guru.

While his points per game was only at 9.2, Garrett did lead the team in assists per game with 4.6 and he was a decent rebounder as well with 4.5 per game. If Garrett can step it up on the offensive end, he could easily be in contention for All-American considerations.

Big man David McCormack will be back for his junior season, and he’ll finally get a chance to be the Jayhawks’ go-to guy in the post. McCormack stepped up big time in his freshman season after Azubuike was injured, but went into a bench role last year midway through the season to help out the spacing of the offense.

There’s no doubt that McCormack will be one of the best big men in the conference and country, and it’s exciting to think about what he’ll be able to do. While it’s way too early to make this comparison, McCormack could be on track for a Thomas Robinson type of junior year.

Both Robinson and McCormack averaged around seven points per game in their sophomore seasons since both were playing behind star centers. McCormack was behind Azubuike, while Robinson was behind the Morris twins.

Robinson went on to average 17.7 rebounds and 11.9 rebounds per game in his junior year while he led Kansas to a national title appearance. If McCormack is anywhere close to that, watch out.

Finally, there are a couple of highly touted freshmen that could end up earning All-American honors. Five-star combo guard Bryce Thompson and four-star guard Tyon Grant-Foster both have a ton of potential, and they could end being some of the best players on the team.

Kansas basketball is going to be one of the best teams in the country next season, and they’re going to have some phenomenal players. It wouldn’t be surprising if at least one or two of them make an All-American team.