The Kansas Jayhawks are in the midst of prepping for an astounding 24th year under head coach Bill Self.
The problem is, no one can quite get a gauge on this team’s ceiling. Earlier this month, we stood by the fact that Kansas can get as far as the Elite Eight, possibly a bit further with some luck, and nothing from that article is being recanted.
Kansas is reeling in one of the highest-rated recruits in program history in Tyran Stokes, along with five-star guard Taylen Kinney, four-star center Davion Adkins, four-star wing Trent Perry, and four-star shooting guard Luke Barnett. Stokes, Kinney, Adkins and Perry are all recruits listed inside the top 100 in the class of 2026.
Combine that with a transfer class comprising four-stars Leroy Blyden Jr. (guard), Keanu Dawes (power forward), Christian Reeves (center) and guard Dennis Parker Jr. (guard) and you can see why the ceiling for this team is steadily rising.
However, you could make almost the same points about last season. Exciting transfers (Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White), combined with the nation’s best high school prospect in Darryn Peterson, and things fell flat.
ESPN gives Kansas a soaring seed
Joe Lunardi of ESPN gave the Jayhawks a decent spot as a No. 4 seed. In all reality, this would be a great place for Kansas to land next season, and it puts them in a great spot to at least attain the Sweet 16, something they haven’t done since 2022.
In Lunardi’s situation, Kansas would take on No. 13 Wichita State, then No. 4 Tennessee before falling to Michigan.
CBS Sports plants Self’s squad
On the other hand, CBS Sports’ David Cobb and Jacob Fetner have the Jayhawks down all the way to the No. 7 seed. A place Kansas has only been once since 2000, two seasons ago in a first-round loss to the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks. Before Arkansas, you would have to stretch all the way back to the Roy Williams era, when Kansas was touted as a No. 8 seed. That iteration flamed out of the tournament against the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils.
In Cobb’s and Fetner’s prediction, the Jayhawks would take on and beat No. 10 Georgia before falling to UConn in the Midwest region.
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