There is no shortage of guards on the Kansas basketball roster. Will Elmarko Jackson or Arterio Morris start at the 2 for the Jayhawks in 2023-24?
Depth at the wing position is an unaddressed issue for the Kansas Jayhawks, but there is an abundance of combo guards committed to play for Bill Self. Two have joined the team via the transfer portal, and three are high school recruits.
Texas transfer Arterio Morris and Elmarko Jackson are the most likely candidates to enter the starting rotation at the 2. Although Towson transfer Nick Timberlake (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) could serve as a shooting guard, he will make more of an impact at the 3 or as the sixth man.
It makes sense for Kansas to play Morris or Jackson alongside Dajuan Harris, one of the best playmakers in the nation. As good as Dajuan is, he is not someone who can score at will and pose much of a threat offensively to opposing teams. Jackson can offset that with his ability to rim-run and dribble drive, whereas Morris would play more off the ball.
We’ve seen elite point guard duos like Frank Mason III and Devonte’ Graham or Sherron Collins and Tyshawn Taylor play together. It’s a system that Coach Self loves to operate. It’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where he lets two guards with tremendous potential to play the second unit.
Morris can bud into one of the best defensive guards in the nation, a title that Dajuan already boasts. He and Morris would form one of the best defensive backcourts that Bill Self has ever coached. Jackson is supposedly a promising defensive prospect, but we do not know what he is capable of at the collegiate level yet.
Both Jackson and Morris are high fliers. They have strikingly similar skill sets — elite athleticism, underdeveloped jump shots, and comparable sizes (Morris is 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, and Jackson is 6-foot-3, 185 pounds). The decision of which will crack the starting rotation will boil down to how they perform in preseason practices.
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Personally, I’m in favor of Kansas picking up a big wing like Arthur Kaluma or Grant Nelson as their final roster move. If Kevin McCullar returns, that would be great. I just don’t think that’s a believable scenario anymore — it is less likely he returns each day. Dajuan, Morris/Jackson, Timberlake, an unknown transfer, and Dickinson are who I believe will start. This is why I do not think KJ will start to begin next season:
Coach Self has already stated that he is never going back to the High/Low Motion Offense ever again. It clogs up the lane and does not work in today’s game. Having shooters and ball handlers is far more paramount than having a big 4 who can rebound and score inside. If you look at all of Self’s successful power forwards in the past six or seven years (Jalen Wilson, Dedric Lawson, Josh Jackson), they could all put the ball on the floor, create their own shots, and shoot threes if needed. It’s the reason KJ received all his playing time at center in 2022-23.
The final debate comes down not only to which player will make the starters better but who will provide a much-needed spark plug off the bench. Elmarko is a soon-to-be freshman, and Bill Self has a reputation for not playing his underclassmen too much, but Jackson is not an ordinary recruit. In fact, he is rated higher than Gradey Dick was coming out of high school.
They’ll need to fight it out in practice each day to compete for minutes. Jackson is not the only guard coming to KU in his recruiting class, as Jamari McDowell and Chris Johnson might have bright futures as a Jayhawk too.
Jackson has a decent chance to start next to Harris. Arterio’s experience in the Big 12 will benefit him greatly, though, and I don’t think Coach Self would have brought on a player with as much baggage as Morris has to ride the bench in his first season.
My prediction: Arterio Morris
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