Kansas basketball has been on quite a rollercoaster so far this offseason. It all started with waiting on pins and needles to see if legendary head coach Bill Self would return. When he announced he would, suddenly it was a mass exodus to the transfer portal and NBA Draft, leaving Self to rebuild the roster practically from scratch.
Then it turned to the Tyran Stokes sweepstakes, one that Kansas came out victorious in landing the top player in the Class of 2026. Now, with the roster beginning to finalize, it is a waiting game until the team gets back in the gym over the summer to begin putting the pieces together.
With many teams closely watching the NBA Draft deadline to see if players would return, Kansas didn't have to worry at all about it, as any Jayhawks in the draft were either definitely staying or already out of eligibility. However, now that college basketball rosters are beginning to finalize everywhere, FanSided's Busting Brackets writer Rodney Knuppel released an early top 25 rankings, and Kansas fans may not like where the Jayhawks landed.
FanSided's Busting Brackets doesn't see the potential of Bill Self's latest roster
Knuppel did a fairly good job with his rankings, especially with who returned to a certain team from the NBA Draft deadline. Having Illinois at No. 1 was certainly a choice; the Fighting Illini brought back some big names and were a Final Four team this last season.
However, some of the mid-range rankings are where Kansas fans are going to feel a bit disrespected. The Jayhawks are a blue blood program through adn through, and while rankings can't be based solely on that, it does have a little merit to it. Knuppel had Kansas come in at No. 17 in these rankings, which seems a little low based on the roster Self has built.
"Kansas lost a lot of talent, but the arrival of Tyrann Stokes gives Bill Self another potential superstar to build around immediately. The Jayhawks still feel dangerous because of the overall upside and the belief that Kansas usually looks much better by January than it does in the preseason."
Kansas is going to be a very young team going into next season with seven freshmen coming in from the Class of 2026, but Self knows how to deal with young players. Without a doubt, this roster was built around five-star incoming freshman Tyran Stokes, but he isn't the only talent coming to Lawrence.
Stokes will be joined by fellow five-star recruit Taylen Kinney, who brings a lot to his game, but Self also found some firepower in the transfer portal. Transfers like Keanu Dawes and Leroy Blyden Jr. bring a scoring ability to Kansas that won't leave Stokes on an island, having to do it all themselves.
Self also went out and got Dennis Parker Jr., who can be a big threat from deep range. This is a roster that may not have many big names other than Stokes, but it feels like a dangerous one. Self has always had a great eye for talent, so overlooking any of his rosters is a bad idea, and this ranking does just that, giving the Jayhawks reason to have a chip on their shoulder.
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