Last season, the Kansas Jayhawks struggled to move the ball effectively.
As the season wore on, the blame often got pinned to Darryn Peterson. Peterson was tipped as a playmaker in high school, but at KU, he quickly became Kansas’ most consistent scorer and his playmaking took the backseat, as he averaged just 1.6 assists per game. Head coach Bill Self later called Peterson a “shooter-scorer,” pushing back on the narrative.
But it wasn’t just Peterson who struggled to keep the ball moving.
Overall, the Jayhawks ranked No. 150 in the nation with just 13.9 assists per game. Leading the Jayhawks last season was transfer guard Melvin Council Jr. who finished with a hair over five assists per outing. The problem was, after you got past the senior, you were left with Tre White, who finished with just 1.8 assists. Too big of a drop-off for Kansas to seriously compete against the nation’s best teams.
However, in Self’s latest NCAA Transfer Portal class, the Jayhawks are looking to remedy that situation.
Who becomes Kansas’ primary creator?
There are three candidates who make the most sense. Firstly, there is Tyran Stokes, the nation’s No. 1 incoming player in the class of 2026, a small forward who just finished his high school career in the northwest at Rainier Beach High School.
Leroy Blyden Jr. a combo guard who just created one of college basketball’s most exciting freshman seasons, where he went for 16.5 points and 4.5 assists.
Lastly, incoming guard Taylen Kinney. In Kinney’s final two seasons inside Overtime Elite, the former five-star averaged 5.5 assists per game, which included a jump from five assists in the 2024-25 season to 6.1 during his final year.
With this being an offense seemingly built around Stokes, you could very easily expect to see him dictate play and bringing the ball up the court more times than not. Both Kinney and Blyden aren’t afraid to put up shots, so with those two constantly creating havoc one-on-one, it could create easier opportunities for Stokes to steadily tick up his assist numbers.
MaxPreps reveals that last season, Stokes tallied six assists per game, meaning he is no slouch when asked to create.
Blyden will likely come last of the aforementioned names. The sophomore showed an elite ability to knife down the lane and use his skills as a scorer last season, much more than a passer.
Kinney is an interesting prospect, as the stats will tell you that he is an overall stat sheet stuffer. In Kinney’s two seasons at OTE, he notched 701 points and 197 assists. If Self wants him to lead in either points or assists, he can do either with relative ease.
Overall, it would be fair to expect Stokes to lead the team by the time the 2026-27 season wraps up. With each passing day, you can see this team slowly making him its cornerstone and with the small forward being able to dominate on the ball, this does not feel like a hot take.
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