Last season, the Kansas Jayhawks struggled to pick up the slack at the few points when their defense lacked.
This is why Kansas often suffered lopsided losses as the season wore on, like an 86-75 loss to West Virginia, an 84-68 loss to Cincinnati, and an 84-61 loss to the Arizona Wildcats.
Overall, the Jayhawks finished the season ranked No. 161st in scoring at just 75.1 points per game.
However, Bill Self and his staff attacked this need significantly through the NCAA Transfer Portal and the high school ranks, allowing the Jayhawks to reel in two five-star freshmen in Tyran Stokes and Taylen Kinney, and a transfer class comprising four, four-stars in guard Leroy Blyden Jr. wing/guard Dennis Parker Jr. power forward Keanu Dawes and center Christian Reeves.
Those four aforementioned transfers are set to reel in 58.4 points per game from their respective universities. Obviously, all but Dawes came from non-high major schools which means there points may be watered down, but from the portal alone KU is already reeling in a massive points boost.
However, when you are looking at a player who is set to lead Kansas next season in scoring, there is really only one name that should come to mind.
Tyran Stokes has to be Kansas’ star scorer next season
You wouldn’t be wrong to expect Stokes to become an immediate contender for next season’s No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
According to MaxPreps, Stokes finished his senior season at Rainier Beach with an outstanding 31 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four rebounds per game.
Of course, these numbers aren’t going to translate immediately to the collegiate level. But the offense is going to run through Stokes; the aim should be for him to touch the ball every possession. With Blyden and Kinney both being described as combo guards in the past, that trio could easily be one that sees Kinney, Blyden and Stokes having equal possession of the ball each possession, creating headaches for any opposition.
Last year, former five-star Darryn Peterson was often isolated and forced on an island. Teams were quick to implement double teams and Peterson did not often have the scoring support around him to rely on, causing Kansas’ offense to stall. With Stokes now involved, the Jayhawks should look to have a much more fluid offense led by their crown jewel.
Stokes should be at the point next season, where he should be averaging around 20 points per outing. Not numbers that are going to jump off the charts. But his overall game and the ability of those around them should create a much more balanced scoring offense.
While Stokes should lead the way, expect Blyden, Kinney, and Parker to finish closely behind. Parker’s 53 points against Coppin State last season tells you all you need to know about his ability to find points. Kinney averaged 19.5 points per game over his last two seasons in Overtime Elite, and Blyden notched 16.4 points per game as a freshman last season. Expect much better offensive production come next season
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