Kansas suffers pair of transfer portal setbacks including Bryson Tiller out the door

When fans heard that Flory Bidunga had hit the portal last week, most would have hoped that he would have been the outgoing player with the most gametime from last season. But the thing about the portal is that sometimes it kicks you the most when you are already down. 

Bryson Tiller looks for a way out of the program

Throughout the first part of Tiller’s tenure, you could very easily tell that this was a redshirt freshman getting used to the highest level of Division I basketball. Tiller struggled to look confident when he wasn’t outside the arc, and he failed to use his 6-foot-11 stature to his advantage. 

For the first seven games of Tiller’s career, he opted largely for three-pointers and shot 7-19. While he managed a strong 4/4 in Kansas’ 87-74 loss to UNC from outside, it was clear that he looked a bit like a fish out of water standing so far away from the paint. 

As the season wore on, though, Tiller began to find his footing and got a lot more comfortable utilizing his trademark spin moves to get to either side of the block, and was quickly making an offensive impact. Tiller finished the season with a high of 21 in the Jayhawks’ 90-82 win over No. 13 BYU. 

Paul Mbiya set to hit the portal as well

Mbiya’s first year season saw the former four-star play a bit part role for a majority of the campaign, playing just 106 minutes. However, in Kansas’ first round matchup against Cal Baptist, with starter Flory Bidunga getting into early foul trouble, Mbiya stepped in and played a season-high 16 minutes, where he went 4/5 from the field. Mbiya's freshman season mostly saw him doing this and constantly stepping in for a foul-ridden Bidunga.

While both Mbiya and Tiller both produced smooth moments of quality, by no means were either of them a finished product. The pair will come in as two big portal lands for some big programs, but Mbiya's development, especially, is needed to see him reach full potential. Just with the already confirmed outgoing of the highly-touted Flory Bidunga, it only adds to the question marks surrounding this team.

Now, both of Kansas’ top two centers and top power forward have hit the portal, leaving massive gaps in the KU frontcourt, and it feels like these two won’t be the last to leave the program either.

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