Kansas basketball: Way-too-early lineup predictions for the 2023-24 Jayhawks
By Kyle Jones
Small Forward
Josh: Matthew Cleveland
As much as I wish for a Kevin McCullar return, I cannot bring myself to believe it. Even if he gets selected in the late second round, the NBA offers more prospects to him than another season at Kansas would. He can develop the same skills on a professional roster that he would at KU, but instead, he would not be wasting his age-22 season.
Cleveland entered the transfer portal yesterday evening, so this is a bit of an improvised pick. Harrison Ingram was my original choice, but experts overwhelmingly expect him to commit to North Carolina in the upcoming days. There has been no word of Cleveland contacting Kansas, yet I imagine that the Jayhawks coaching staff will reach out to him sooner than later. The Florida State forward was a five-star recruit and projected one-and-done coming out of high school. He averaged 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in 2022-23.
His slashing and rebounding ability make him a name to watch in the transfer portal. Coach Self could unleash some of the potential that scouts said he had. There was a ten-game stretch this season that he averaged 16.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 1.0 steals while shooting 48.0/47.6/66.0. That is a scary good stat line. He would replace Jalen Wilson and McCullar as the rebounding forward while offering similar benefits to those two offensively. Cleveland is a positionless player, as he is capable of practically anything on the hardwood. Nobody on this list is that good of a shooter yet, but a 35.0 three-point percentage offers hope for improvement.
Kyle: Kevin McCullar
The phrase “testing the NBA Draft waters” is usually a good sign for KU fans. Typically, players at a school like Kansas are either good enough to be a lottery to mid-first-round pick, or they aren’t good enough for the NBA. McCullar is the next in line to fit that mold. Ochai Agbaji went to the combine following the 2020-21 season before returning to KU for his senior season. Jalen Wilson went to the combine twice, returning each time. Both of those guys took massive steps in their play and exponentially helped their draft stock. I think McCullar will do the same thing.
Everything I have read says that he will be, at best, an early second-round pick. That sort of draft capital means very little in the NBA. If he came back and showed that he could be a lead contributor (something Ochai and Jalen both did extremely well), he could find his way into the first round next year.
As far as KU goes, his top-tier defense and basketball IQ would be welcomed with open arms. A defense that has great players at every level (Harris, McCullar, KJ Adams, Udeh Jr.) is bound to succeed. Plus, if he expanded his offense to show off for NBA scouts, that would also help the team a ton.