Flory Bidunga had two good years playing for the Kansas basketball team. His freshman season was a developmental one, but he improved mightily and was an integral part of the team that won 24 games.
After the season, Bidunga decided to leave Kansas for the big bag of cash Louisville wanted to give him. The Sporting News, via Yahoo Sports, reported the Cardinals put together a NIL deal that would pay Bidunga approximately $5 million.
The NIL era is what it is. After decades of the student athletes being exploited by the NCAA, those players are now allowed to be paid for the names, images, and likeness. They can promote products and earn money they were allowed to before. You can't blame players for wanting to earn what money they can when they can. Fans hate it, but it is understandable. Still, star players don't usually leave blueblood programs.
Bidunga gave everyone extra insight to his decision to leave Kansas this week, and it may not have been all about the money. In an interview with Steve Reed of the Associated Press, Bidunga had a different reason apart from the monetary deal he got from Louisville. His answer is disturbing.
I asked Louisville big man Flory Bidunga, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season, why he would transfer from Kansas to play for coach Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals in the ACC. His response: pic.twitter.com/kk5dhnq77w
— Steve Reed (@SteveReedAP) October 6, 2026
Flory Bidunga gives a shocking reason why he left Kansas
When Reed asked Bidunga why he left Kansas, the former Jayhawk said all the right things until he didn't.
“Kansas is a great school, great coaches. Shoutout to Coach Self, one of the best ones ever. It wasn't bad blood or anything; I still love him, I still care about him. I want them to be great and to be successful. I don't know; I feel like I just didn't want to waste a year.”
It is the last sentence that is so stunning. That he “didn't want to waste a year” does not show much trust in head coach Bill Self, or his coaching staff, or the players Self had already recruited. It indirectly indicates that Bidunga didn't think Self could help his development or career anymore. It also indicates that the former Jayhawk didn't have confidence that Kansas could win games.
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If you want to give Bidunga a shred of doubt on his meaning, you could read that as he would rather not waste a year of earning power. Kansas obviously wasn't going to pony up $5 million, so maybe that was the reason.
In reality, it could be a combination of all these things. Bidunga had a chance to earn more money elsewhere, that Self had helped him as much as the coach could, and that he didn't think KU was going to be good.
These just aren't things seen around the Kansas program. Self is a proven winner and is in the Hall of Fame. He's won two national championships, one as recently as 2022. It has been no secret that Self has struggled in the NIL era, missing on several of the players he's brought in from the transfer portal. Still, Bidunga would have had a key place in the KU lineup this year, and as it turned out, there would have been plenty of great players around him if he'd stayed.
The fact that a star player would think being at Kansas would be a waste is mind-blowing. Kansas has a chance to prove him wrong, and it will be interesting to see how the fans welcome him back on October 21 when Louisville visits Allen Fieldhouse for an exhibition game.
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