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Kansas basketball’s first round with E. Washington makes room for more minutes from younger talent

By Conner Becker

March Madness and Final Four signage goes up around downtown Indianapolis on Monday March 8, 2021, in preparation for the NCAA tournament.Finals 7
March Madness and Final Four signage goes up around downtown Indianapolis on Monday March 8, 2021, in preparation for the NCAA tournament.Finals 7 /
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Kansas basketball will have an open spot on their starting lineup, which makes room for more minutes from younger talent this Saturday.

It’s no doubt that Kansas basketball will be coming into their first round on Saturday with a bit of a chip on their shoulders.

Withdrawing from their Big 12 Tourney due to positive Covid-19 tests, watching Texas stroll into the championship, and now going into the first round without Jalen Wilson.

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Wilson had been averaging just over 12 points per game heading into last week’s conference semifinal, which was canceled due to the sophomore’s positive Covid-19 test.

This now creates some opportunities for younger talent to step up and find some minutes at the guard position for the Jayhawks when they take on E. Washington.

Coach Self shared that David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna, who have both been recovering from Covid-19, will be re-joining the roster later this week.

While this is good news for Jayhawk fans, Kansas will need to fill in for Wilson, which will open the floor for someone to step up and fill in the important starting role.

E. Washington presents an opportunity to find success behind Kansas’ bench efforts, which should give young playmakers Dajuan Harris, Bryce Thompson, and Enaruna more minutes.

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While both Bryce and Dajuan bring a great deal of speed, Enaruna brings more height to the position. At the same time, both Thompson and Dajuan have seen more minutes throughout the regular season and perform better at the basket.

This means we’ll likely see a decent mix of minutes among the trio. However, if someone like Dajuan gets hot against the Eagles’ 5th best Big Sky defense.

All things considered, Coach Self will have an opportunity to get creative and rotate some younger talent on Saturday.

Sure, it might not be the best time to be losing one of Kansas’ starting five but it beats having to miss the tournament entirely, which was a major concern following last week’s withdrawal in Kansas City.

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