After twelve days without Kansas basketball, the winter hiatus will end as the Jayhawks (10–3) travel to Orlando on Saturday to take on the UCF Knights (11–1) to open Big 12 play.
Heading into 2025, Kansas had won 33 straight conference openers, dating all the way back to the 1991–92 season (older than the Big 12 itself). Last season, KU's loss to West Virginia ended an incredible streak of dominance that will likely never be replicated.
Entering 2026, the Jayhawks hope to restart that streak when they face a UCF team that has multiple ties to Bill Self and Kansas.
Former Ties
Riley Kugel
One of the two active UCF players who spent a brief time as a Jayhawk is senior guard Riley Kugel. After KU’s 2023–24 season ended with a second-round loss to Gonzaga, Kansas contacted Kugel, who had just entered the transfer portal after two seasons with the Florida Gators. He quickly committed to play for Bill Self before the NCAA Tournament even concluded on March 31, 2024. Kugel was considered a high-level transfer and had even been mentioned on NBA draft boards during his freshman season.
After KU secured three more commitments from transfer guards Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, and Rylan Griffen in April, Kugel began to worry about the role he’d have if he stayed in Lawrence. About a week into May, he announced that he would no longer be joining the team.
After re-opening his recruitment, Kugel eventually chose to play for Chris Jans at Mississippi State. However, he didn’t make the jump he had anticipated. Ironically, his minutes dropped compared to each of his previous two seasons, and all of his statistical averages plateaued.
Now in his senior season at UCF under Johnny Dawkins, Kugel has finally shown improvement in his game, most notably becoming a 40% three-point shooter (13.7 points per game). As one of the four core players on this Knights roster, Kugel should have a detailed scouting report ready from Bill Self and his staff.
Chris Johnson
The other active Knight who spent time committed to Kansas is junior guard Chris Johnson. After announcing his commitment to KU as a four-star recruit on August 3, 2022, he was publicly recognized as Bill Self's first commit in the class of 2023 (later joined by Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell).
However, about ten months later, he requested a release from his letter of intent, shortly after Kansas received transfer commitments from Nick Timberlake, Arterio Morris, and Hunter Dickinson.
Less than a month later, Johnson (from the Houston area) joined the Texas Longhorns. After playing fewer than five minutes per game in his freshman season, he elected to transfer to Stephen F. Austin, where he spent last season. Although he played in only three games and looked solid, Johnson was sidelined by injuries and never appeared again for the Lumberjacks.
Now at UCF, Johnson opened the season with a strong performance against Vanderbilt, scoring seventeen points (alongside Kugel’s 25) in a losing effort against the still-undefeated Commodores. He hasn’t been consistent since but has shown glimpses of his high potential. He’ll be looking to impress Bill Self and his staff, hoping they might regret letting him go a few seasons ago.
After losing to the Jayhawks at home last season by a score of 99–48 (the largest win against a high-major program in Kansas history and the second-largest ever), UCF will surely be motivated to defend their home floor this time around.
Darryn Peterson Update
During a New Year’s press conference previewing the UCF game, Bill Self said, "Unless something unforeseen happens, we should have our full complement of guys." He also noted that Darryn Peterson has shown a new level of explosiveness in recent practices.
This suggests that Peterson should be ready to go when the Jayhawks take the floor on Saturday afternoon. Given all the recent uncertainty, most fans will probably not believe it until they actually see him out there.
After an extended break, can KU spoil UCF’s conference opener and snap the Knights' 10-game winning streak?
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