What a difference a week makes! Earlier this week, the Kansas basketball team added two significant players to its roster for the 2025-26 college basketball season.
First, guard Kohl Rosario decided to reclassify from the 2026 class to this one, and he will be playing for the Jayhawks this fall.
Secondly, Congolese big man Paul Mbiya chose Kansas over Oregon after decommitting from North Carolina State a few days earlier. Head coach Bill Self added two players who should see plenty of minutes, nicely rounding out his roster for the upcoming season.
What does the Kansas basketball roster look like now?
Self only had five returning players when the recruiting season started. Of those, only Flory Bidunga played last year. Elmarko Jackson, Jamari McDowell, and Noah Shelby redshirted, as did Bryson Tiller after he joined the team at the beginning of the spring semester.
Three veteran players were added through the transfer portal. Perimeter players Melvin Council Jr., Tre White, and Jayden Dawson should bring experience and toughness to the team.
Self started bringing in a big freshman class that unofficially included Tiller. The centerpiece of this recruit class is certainly Darryn Peterson, the second-best prospect in the nation, according to On3. Samis Calderon and Corbin Allen rounded out the class.
Until this week, that is. With the additions of Rosario and Mbiya, the Jayhawks are now deep inside and out. Self will have more options from which to choose. As is always the case, some players will underperform in practices leading into the season, and others will exceed expectations.
The roster looks to be filled with players who can score in different ways, and this group might be stronger defensively than some in recent years. Self can play as many people as he wants, using various combinations to suit the matchups. At least now, there doesn’t appear to be a massive gap in talent behind Peterson and Bidunga.
This is not a roster constructed for only an eight-man rotation. Depending on how quickly some develop, Self may be looking at the ability to run a lot of players in and out without losing anything. Most likely, he will use nine, but there is now more wiggle room to account for injuries, foul trouble, or whatever else may arise.
Rosario and Mbiya added quality depth to an already solid roster. It will be interesting to see how far KU jumps in the recruiting class rankings after these signings. This class, which initially featured a decent group with one standout player, evolved into a strong class in just a few days.
Well done, coach. Rock Chalk!