The Kansas Jayhawks were forced to revamp after last season saw their roster get decimated by the NCAA Transfer Portal, the NBA Draft and lack of eligibility.
All recruiting rankings are derived from 247Sports
Reviews of Kansas’ four-man portal class have been mixed. For example, KU has only one incoming transfer inside the top 50 in Utah power forward Keanu Dawes, but is also reeling in three more inside the top 160, creating a balanced strength of depth, something that heavily lacked when you got past the front five of Kansas last season, which is why KU averaged just 75.1 points, good for No. 161st best in the nation.
Are things perfect? No. In the back of your mind, you would always expect the Jayhawks to have the pull to bring in a top-10 talent, but when speaking to Shreyas Laddha of the Kansas City Star, college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla seems to have few worries over the outlook of next season.
Talked to Fran Fraschilla about #kubball roster, Tyran Stokes and Darryn Peterson.
— Shreyas Laddha (@shre98) June 22, 2026
He says Stokes is kind of a combo of the top-3 picks in this class. pic.twitter.com/dU1EhSUeaj
Kansas fans should feel just fine after this quote
“Well, I think there's a bunch of teams in college basketball, in the top 25 even, that still could use one more piece,” quoted Fraschilla on Monday.
“But, you know, Taylen Kinney, the youngster from Toledo [Leroy Blyden Jr.] who I'm high on. I think Kohl Rosario, who should have been in high school this year, is gonna embrace Kansas culture, is gonna get a second year of coaching. I'm optimistic about KU.”
Kinney is one of two five-stars brought in by Self, with the nation’s No. 1 player, Tyran Stokes, being the other from the 2026 class. Kinney averaged 19.5 points per game in Overtime Elite play over the last two seasons.
Blyden, meanwhile, just capped off a wildly impressive freshman year with the Rockets, notching 16.4 points, four rebounds, and 4.5 assists on a strong 46.1% field goal rate last season.
While Rosario’s freshman season started extremely hot before cooling during Big 12 play, the sophomore still notched strong performances against St. John’s and Houston, two of Kansas’ final three games.
“And I say this all the time. When KU's really good, it makes the league better. And I expect Tyran Stokes to have a huge impact on that team this year.”
Being the nation’s No. 1 prospect will grant you these demands. Since committing to Kansas, Stokes (whether fair or not) has taken on the same expectations that were handed to Darryn Peterson, Andrew Wiggins, and plenty of others over the years.
If Stokes is able to strike the right balance with the Jayhawks, then this is a team that should be right back in the fray for contending for the Big 12 regular-season title, something they haven’t won since the 2022-23 season. The questions that have been heaved over to KU have been aimed more towards Stokes’ supporting cast than him, but Self’s recruitment through this offseason could go down as one of his better classes if they provide the support necessary. Something last year’s team struggled to do.
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