Kansas’s projected starting 5 with Tyran Stokes looks like the title contender Bill Self needs

Bill Self mulled retirement after a fourth-straight exit in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but ultimately opted to return to Lawrence for his 24th season at the helm. One of the likely reasons he decided to run it back: the imminent arrival of No. 1 overall recruit Tyran Stokes. 

While Stokes seemed to be wavering on his Kansas proclivities late in his recruitment, he made his commitment to the Jayhawks on Tuesday night, announcing it on ESPN’s Inside the NBA. Now, after an offseason that began with the departures of Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller to the Transfer Portal and Darryn Peterson for the NBA, Kansas suddenly has a roster that looks poised to compete in the Big 12 next season. 

Stokes joins fellow five-star Taylen Kinney in a five-player high school recruiting class that ranks near the top of the country, and presumably, he’ll join the talented 6-foot-1 point guard in the Jayhawks starting lineup for the 2026-27 season. 

Kansas’s current projected starting lineup for the 2026-27 season:

• PG - Taylen Kinney, freshman
• SG - Leroy Blyden Jr., sophomore (Toledo transfer)
• SF - Tyran Stokes, freshman
• PF - Keanu Dawes, senior (Utah transfer)
• C - Christian Reaves, senior (Charleston transfer)

Stokes completes the Kansas starting lineup in a meaningful way. A big playmaker who can slide up and down the lineup, he’ll unlock the ability to supersize with Reaves and Paul Mbiya, whom Kansas was able to keep out of the Transfer Portal, in the front court, or downsize as a point forward surrounded by shooting. 

Self, however, can’t be done adding to the roster in Lawrence. Kinney and Blyden, while an incredibly talented backcourt duo, are severely undersized. With two guards at 6-foot-1, Kansas’s defense will suffer unless Self is able to make another pickup to fill out the backcourt or add a three-and-d wing to alleviate the defensive stress. 

Kansas looks to be on the cusp of contention, and if the 6-foot-7, No. 1 overall recruit and likely preseason All-American lives up to the hype, the Jayhawks should be poised to get back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since they won it all in 2022. 

Self went all-in on Stokes. It cost him Bidunga, Tiller, and Elmarko Jackson in the portal, but an elite freshman class looks to be worth it. Self flirted with disaster if Stokes chose Kentucky, but now that he’s closed the deal, he can shape the roster of the rotation around his one-and-done star.

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