Considering he was mostly starting from scratch with Darryn Peterson heading to the NBA, Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White out of eligibility, and Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller departing through the Transfer Portal, Bill Self has built a fairly strong roster around Tyran Stokes, the top-ranked recruit in the country.
However, until Thursday morning, that roster had a glaring hole. While thin, the front court is fairly set with Christian Reeves slated to play center, Keanu Dawes at power forward, and Stokes on the wing. That’s not the issue. The issue is, or was, a backcourt comprised of 6-foot-1 Leroy Blyden Jr. and 6-foot-1 five-star freshman Taylen Kinney.
Blyden and Kinney are talented shot-creators, but that is not nearly enough size to survive on the defensive end of the floor. A coach can insulate one undersized defender, but two sharing the floor at the same time is where you run into problems, and that was going to be a difficult problem for Self to solve until he landed a commitment from Radford transfer Dennis Parker Jr. on Thursday.
Dennis Parker Jr. is the versatile defensive piece Kansas was missing
A high-usage on-ball creator in the Big South last season, the former NC State Wolfpack wing will be a three-and-D player for the Jayhawks, either from the starting lineup or off the bench. While he didn’t shoot it at a tremendous volume, he can space the floor as a reliable three-point threat. His real value, though, will come on defense, where Kansas desperately needs a boost.
Reeves won’t be Bidunga, but he’s a defensive anchor with an impressive block rate and good rebounding numbers. The rim protection he provides at 7-foot-2 will give Kansas a viable defensive floor, but he will likely be tested at the rim often because Self hasn’t put many great perimeter defenders around him.
Stokes has the athleticism to be a strong defender, but it’s a legitimate question whether or not the effort will always be there. For Blyden and Kinney, effort can only go so far because of their physical limitations. That makes Parker crucial for his ability to defend 1-3 at 6-foot-6, 205 pounds.
Parker’s arrival will give Self the ability to stagger Blyden and Kinney’s minutes, which is probably best for both players, and it gives Self the versatile wing defender he needs to take pressure off Stokes. Incoming freshman Trent Perry and returning sophomore Kohl Rosario will be other wing options, but it can be tough to ask young players to consistently hold up against difficult matchups. That’s especially true as college basketball gets older because NIL and revenue-sharing payments are keeping players out of the NBA Draft and bringing talent over from Europe.
Parker’s defensive metrics from his 2025-26 season aren’t outstanding, but he’s a net positive defender by stats like real adjusted plus-minus, and defensive win-shares, with a 91st percentile defensive rebound rate, an 80th percentile or better steal rate, block rate, and foul efficiency (per CBBanalytics.com). Importantly, he did that while being the primary engine of the Radford offense, averaging 18.3 points a game.
Now, without that burden, he can focus more of his effort on his defense, where he’s a natural move with a nose for the ball. He can be the head of the snake against bigger initiators, and he has good instincts as a help-side defender.
Even with Parker, there aren’t many plus defenders on Self’s roster, so adding another was critical, and it opens up so many possibilities for a team that was looking very siloed with two small guards and limited depth.
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