Bill self announced that Zach Clemence would return to Kansas basketball for his junior year. These are three reasons why it makes sense for the program.
The Kansas Jayhawks had ten scholarship players coming into yesterday, and the consensus was that it would stay that way unless a player was acquired from the transfer portal. However, Zach Clemence’s decision to return was surprising for all parties involved.
It might not be the most impactful news of the offseason, but it was certainly the most unexpected. Clemence committed to UC Santa Barbara last month after entering the transfer portal. He then backtracked and called Bill Self up, asking him to rejoin the Kansas basketball team.
Throughout his two years at Kansas, the 6-foot-10 forward appeared in 44 contests while averaging 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds. He won a national championship with the Jayhawks in 2022. His return comes as a pleasant surprise, and these are three reasons why it is a good move.
1. Clemence can be mentored by one of the best big men in the country.
Although he is a few inches shorter and plays way differently than superstar big man Hunter Dickinson, there is no better player for Clemence to model his game after. As a redshirt, he will gain invaluable experience from defending him in practice and competing with other players on one of the nation’s best teams.
He will be taken under the wing of Dickinson and fellow transfer center Parker Braun, who is entering his fifth year of college basketball. Following the season’s conclusion, the hope is that Clemence will have learned enough from fellow upperclassmen to become a consistent contributor by the 2024-25 season.
2. He is familiar with the Kansas system and knows what it takes to get playing time.
As I mentioned when the news broke that Clemence would return, the grass is not always greener on the other side. That goes for both Kansas and himself.
Sure, it would have been nice to add a player with more experience and proven talent than Clemence. But do we know how well they would have performed at KU? There have been many instances that a transfer or high school recruit has underachieved with the Jayhawks.
If Coach Self reeled in a nearly 7-foot transfer who could shoot the three and played at a premier program like Duke or Kentucky, we’d all be praising the program for finding an underrated player. There’s no reason to act any differently with Clemence, because all those things apply to him.
At the end of the day, he has spent two years on a Bill Self-coached team and is familiar with the ins and outs of Kansas basketball. This move makes much more sense than KU bringing in a “project” player.
3. Clemence is showing a willingness to work harder by taking a redshirt year.
One of the biggest criticisms of Clemence is that he often didn’t look like he cared enough to play. Sometimes, he would chuck up threes and play lazy defense, which made fans question whether he was bought into the program. By redshirting, he shows that he is eager to better his game.
Clemence would not have returned if he didn’t know what he was getting into. He spent two years at Kansas and played sparingly in both seasons. Rather than taking the easy way out and becoming a star at a substandard mid-major, he’d rather try to improve and stick with his team. That is a rare quality in college basketball players nowadays with the prominence of the transfer portal.
This isn’t to say that Clemence will become the next Wilt Chamberlain by taking a year off, but it should make Kansas basketball fans excited for his future.
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