Another college basketball season is officially in the books as the Michigan Wolveirnes have taken hom to title this year. With the season coming to a close, that means the basketball transfer portal is now officially open.
For the last few weeks, teams whose season ended either before the NCAA Tournament or during the NCAA Tournament have had players announce their intentions to enter the portal. It seems Kansas players were waiting to see what head coach Bill Self would do with retirement before making their announcements.
Self announced his return on April 1, and since then, four players have entered the portal: Flory Bidunga, Bryson Tiller, Paul Mbiya, and Elmarko Jackson. This leaves a lot of holes for Self with others not returning due to eligibility and the NBA Draft.
So, with Self practically scrambling to put a team together with only four incoming freshmen, here are three players that Self needs to prioritize out of the Transfer Portal.
John Blackwell - Guard
John Blackwell is going to be one player a lot of programs are after in the transfer portal, coming in with ample experience at Wisconsin in the last three seasons. Blackwell will probably only have one more year left in college, but his stats are too good to pass up.
The junior guard averaged 19.1 points per game for Wisconsin this season aling with 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Blackwell would be a great replacement for Melvin Council Jr. at Kansas with his ability to make a play happen out of nothing and his keen scoring ability. Under Self, Blackwell could thrive even more in the Jayhawks offense than under Greg Gard.
Somtochukwu Cyril - Center
Kansas desperately needs to find a big man out of the portal; if not, maybe a couple with Bidunga, Tiller, and Mbiya leaving. To start, Self would do well by going after Georgia's Somtochukwu Cyril, just a sophomore this season.
Cyril averaged only 9.3 points this season and 5.4 rebounds, but with 2.2 blocks per game, he would be a great Bidunga replacement. Cyril is certainly on the younger side, but Self does well developing young talent, and bringing in a 6-foot-11 center would be something Kansas desperately needs in the paint next season.
Markus Burton - Guard
This one may be a confusing one for Kansas fans, but just hang in there and hear me out. Markus Burton was having the best season of his career in the first 10 games before going down with an ankle injury for Notre Dame.
In 10 games, Burton averaged 18.5 points per game, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. Not only does his scoring jump off the stat sheet, but something Kansas didn't have a lot of this season was assists, and Burton knows how to move the ball around for the open shot, either for himself or someone else. Burton could be the commanding guard Kansas needs next season, especially with a lot of youth coming in.