Bill Self supplements Kansas basketball championship hopes with transfer addition

The Kansas Jayhawks have long been considered a top-five team in college basketball for the upcoming campaign. Along with returning players such as Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams, and Dajuan Harris, head coach Bill Self reeled in a trio of sought-after transfers (Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, Rylan Griffen) and a top-10 national recruiting class.

While the current roster was already strong enough to compete for a national championship, KU's most recent addition might make it the clear choice as the nation's preseason No. 1 team. Former Northern Illinois guard David "Diggy" Coit committed to the Jayhawks out of the transfer portal yesterday, strengthening one of the best guard rooms in the country.

Former NIU guard David Coit commits to Kansas basketball

A 5-foot-11 scoring guard from New Jersey, Coit entered the transfer portal in April and immediately heard from KU. However, the coaching staff backed off as they focused on bigger names. The two parties circled back to each other in July once Coit received his NCAA waiver, and the news became official just days after 247 Sports placed a surprise crystal ball in KU's favor.

The two-time All-MAC Third Team selection began his college career at a JUCO before transferring to Northern Illinois. As a junior in 2023-24, he averaged a career-high 20.8 points, 3.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.9 steals on 40.7%/33.7%/88.5% shooting splits. Coit connected on 175-of-494 3-point tries across two years at the Division I level.

Kansas was lacking guard depth after incoming sophomore Elmarko Jackson suffered a season-ending knee injury in June. Hours after the news broke, former Mississippi State guard Shakeel Moore committed. It seemed that he would immediately step into a significant role at KU, but Moore will have to compete with Coit for minutes as the backup point guard.

Receiving a commitment from a 20-point-per-game scorer this late in the offseason is practically unheard of, but Jayhawk fans have learned that there is nothing Bill Self cannot pull off. This move should only make Kansas basketball supporters even more excited for the 2024-25 campaign.