There were a couple of weeks in early April when it looked like Kansas basketball would have some serious roster depth issues in the frontcourt. Now, those worries have been put to rest as KU suddenly has plenty of interior depth.
Forward/center Davion Adkins committed to Kansas last fall, but when all the KU players except guard Kohl Rosario left the program, things looked grim, especially when Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller abandoned the program.
Head coach Bill Self quickly gained the commitment of former Utah four-man Keanu Dawes, and then Paul Mbiya spurned the transfer portal and decided to stay with the Jayhawks. Things were certainly looking up.
Then KU pulled in former Duke center Christian Reeves via the College of Charleston. Finally, Self signed developmental center Grant Mordini.
What does the Kansas frontline depth look like now?
Dawes is a player who can work from the outside in on offense. He can shoot threes, though he's not terribly effective there (31.7 percent), but he can drive and finish at the rim (68.2 percent on two-pointers last season). He's also a tenacious rebounder, 8.8 rebounds per game for Utah this year.
Reeves also showed positives inside, scoring 11.1 points per game and adding 7.8 rebounds, showing he can be a force too. He made 65.4 percent of his shots inside the arc.
Paul Mbiya played only 106 minutes last year, and he's raw offensively, though he still connected on 68.8 percent of his very limited attempts (11 of 16). He should be a prime rim protector, most likely off the bench, and he's most certainly going to elevate his offensive skills.
Adkins will most likely back up Dawes and can also be a third center in case of foul trouble or injury to Reeves and Mbiya.
Mordini probably won't contribute much this season, and he is more of a project and will most likely work as part of the scout team. He might see some action against some of KU's lesser opponents, but it's doubtful he'll much.
Of course, Self still has four roster spots open and could possibly add another frontcourt player, but if he does, it most likely would be someone closer to Mordini in readiness rather than Reeves.
This doesn't seem like an offensively dominating group, though both Dawes and Reeves have a history of being able to score, especially the former. This team will certainly be a guard-focused group, with Tyran, Stokes, Tylan Kinney, Leroy Blyden Jr., Rosaro, Trent Perry, and Luke Barnett. While Self loves his interior play, the level of his guards will likely change his philosophy somewhat, and his frontcourt will be plenty good enough to compete.
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