Kansas' future is still plenty intact if they can keep these two March stars aboard

By no means was the 2025/26 Kansas basketball campaign a banner year. Crashing out before the second weekend for the fourth year in a row poses an unfavorable pattern.

One of the biggest talking points through the first half of the season was the Jayhawks’ lack of a bench presence. Oftentimes, the biggest rotations would be filling in Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell into games with hardly any other changes following. 

Of course, as the season went on, head coach Bill Self emphasized that he felt like having a shorter rotation filled with more ready-made players was the way to go as Kansas faced a stifling Big 12 calendar, which allowed for little room for error.

While it is natural to question a short rotation, perhaps there is no better refuting answer than the name Flory Bidunga. 

In the 2024/25 season, as a freshman, Bidunga largely played behind former KU center Hunter Dickinson, having to bide his time until Dickinson departed. Of course, Bidunga still averaged 16 minutes per game, which by no means is just garbage time, but the KU contingent knew it wasn’t the last they would be seeing of Bidunga. 

The 6-foot-10 forward finished his second season nearly doubling his minutes to 32 per game while also becoming recognized as the Big 12’s best defensive player and an All-Big 12 First Team member.

However, for an offense that was laboring at just 75.1 points per game, which placed them 161st in the nation, there needed to be increased bench production heading into the NCAA Tournament, and they found just that. 

Kohl Rosario and Paul Mbiya took a big step towards claiming a future role

We are going to rewind to the Big 12 semifinal loss for Rosario, as his eight points in 11 minutes reaffirmed the same Rosario that fans saw during parts of the regular season. 

Over his first 13 games of his career, Rosario notched a strong 71 points. However, as the season wore on, Rosario’s role quickly dissipated as the freshman struggled to get onto the court. 

This was the case until Kansas’ 69-47 loss to the Houston Cougars in the aforementioned semifinal. Sure, the game was pretty much put to bed when the former OTE player logged in, but his short burst of undying energy and quick ability to get points grew KU right back into the game. 

For Mbiya, he struggled all season long to get on the court, and having to back up a force like Bidunga will do that to any freshman, no matter their potential.

Up until the Big Dance, Mbiya totaled just 78 minutes, with 11 coming in a blowout 77-46 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and 10 more filling in for the foul-ridden Flory Bidunga as KU lost to the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats in a blowout 84-61 loss. 

However, both of their season outlooks took a positive turn the second Kansas was revealed as a fourth seed in the East Region.

In Kansas’ opening round 68-60 win over Cal Baptist, Mbiya played an impressive 16 minutes, compiling eight points on a 4/5 mark from the field. 

Not even 48 hours later, when Kansas took on the No. 5 St. John’s. Mbiya added another six rebounds, one block, and four points. 

Rosario came in for a crucial nine minutes when the game was looking to get out of hand. After shaking off an early turnover, Rosario notched an efficient five points and two rebounds. 

While there is bound to be a natural shakeup in Kansas’ roster with a loaded freshman class incoming, there is also the potential for portal pieces to influence next year’s outfit. Mbiya and Rosario both showed why they should be priority keeps for the 2026/27 season.

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