The transfer portal is becoming a problem for the Kansas basketball team. All three players with interior experience from this season's team have declared for the portal.
Today, Bryson Tiller and Paul Mbiya both indicated they were heading for the portal, joining Flory Bidunga, who will enter the portal in addition to declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft.
If all three were to leave the program, incoming freshman Davion Adkins would be the only interior player on the roster next year.
NEW: Kansas forward Bryson Tiller plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, @JoeTipton confirms. https://t.co/Wtvq6lSoKJ pic.twitter.com/Ey9Bzbf0OZ
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) April 6, 2026
Bryson Tiller and Paul Mbiya will join Flory Bidunga in the transfer portal
While Bidunga is a known quantity, Tiller and Mbiya both have incredible upside. Tiller started the season a bit behind in his development because he skipped his final season in high school because of a foot injury. Still, he had a significant impact on this past year's team.
Tiller started 32 games and averaged 7.9 points a game and 6.1 rebounds. There is plenty of potential for him to develop and increase those numbers quickly next season. He showed flashes of how talented he is throughout the season. He needs to work on his strength and aggressiveness, along with his shooting. He's going to be an effective stretch four in the near future.
Mbiya is more of a project. His upside is obvious, but he is raw and needs more development. He made his biggest impact late in the season, playing 10 or more minutes in three of the last six games. He has length and athleticism, and it is easy to see him as a strong rim protector and as a player who will get better offensively as he gains more experience.
Losing any of these three players would be a big blow to the program. Of course, just because they enter the portal does not mean they will leave for sure, but it isn't very likely that all of them will stay either. Adkins will surely be in line for some minutes, which means there could be less for Mbiya especially, unless Self switches to a size-heavy lineup like Arizona used to effectively this year.
There will be other big men in the portal for Self to recruit if he loses any of these players, but it is better to have someone whose strengths and weaknesses the coaching staff is already aware of.
Hopefully, Self will be able to retain at least two of these players, or, unlikely as it seems, all three. Along with Adkins, it would give Kansas a formidable front line next year that would be difficult for opponents to deal with.
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