Kansas basketball: Bench remains biggest question mark heading into 2023-24 season
By Dillon Davis
Johnny Furphy
At the wing, KU will depend on yet another freshman – Australian phenom Johnny Furphy – to provide a spark when called upon.
Of his freshmen counterparts, Furphy comes in with the most college-ready experience having played for the Centre of Excellence – Australia’s development program hosted at the Australian Institute of Sport alongside the NBA Global Academy. He also participated in several NBA Academy events this past year, which is how he caught the attention of several college coaches, including the KU staff.
Furphy appears to have all the talent and upside in the world, but just like Jackson and McDowell, Furphy has never played a minute of college basketball. We don’t know how his offensive or defensive skills will translate at this level.
The potential is there for Furphy to be a big contributor, and there will be times where they surely need him to be, but right now it’s unclear how high of an impact he can make in his first year at KU.