Kansas’ class of 2024 was stacked with elite talent, as we all know. The Jayhawks finished with the highly-coveted Flory Bidunga, who finished as the 14th-best player in the nation, Rakease Passmore, who ranked as the 50th-best player in the country; and has since moved on to Maryland, and Bryson Tiller.
As it stands, Tiller is rated as the 42nd-best player from the class, and in his freshman season, Tiller opted for the redshirt, so the 2025 season is his first to don the legendary jersey.
The 6-foot-11 forward has found decent success in his first minutes as a Kansas player. Tiller has already tallied 10+ points six times this season, including 11 points in Kansas’ last 73-49 win over the Towson Tigers.
“I'm glad he made a three. He didn't rebound the ball, but none of us did. But I thought he showed some pretty good moves on the post and things like that,” quoted head coach Bill Self following Tuesday night’s win.
“He's skilled in there, so Bryson's a good player, but it's not really fair to him 'cause he's having to guard on the perimeter, and he's never done it before in his life. And so it's new, but we're far enough along in the season that he can still keep making some major strides with that.”
Tiller’s positioning has been awkward at times, as you can visibly see him get pulled out of position at several moments throughout the game.
This season, the redshirt freshman is averaging 8.8 points, 1.6 blocks, and 5.8 rebounds on a 45.9% field goal rate.
Early into the season, when Kansas had to travel to the East Coast to take on the No. 12 UNC Tar Heels, in what turned out to be a disheartening 87-74 loss, Tiller was one of the very few players who shone.
Off the bench, Tiller notched 12 points in just 15 minutes, which included a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. With two rebounds and one turnover. Tillers’ hotstreak was quickly cooled thanks to the five personal fouls he picked up with 9:22 to play, still in the second half.
Since then, Tiller’s biggest game undoubtedly came when the Jayhawks first took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their first match in the Players Era Championship. Despite a rugged Notre Dame squad that always kept the lead too close for Kansas comfort, Tiller’s career-high 17 points with his 8-15 rate from the field, along with nine rebounds, was enough to push Kansas to a 71-61 win over the ACC side, in what eventually culminated in a third-place finish for Kansas.
While Tiller will more often than not be a rotational piece, by no means is that a bad thing, as a matter of fact, over the last six games, Tiller has seen no less than 23 minutes, which was in the Jayhawks’ blowout win over Towson.
The next chance to see Kansas take to the hardwood is Monday night against the Davidson Wildcats. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT, and streaming is available on ESPN+.
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