College basketball this time of year is a lot like the wild wild west thanks to the transfer portal era we are currently in. It’s essentially free agency for many of college hoops’ top players – leaving many teams and coaches scrambling to fill their roster for the next season.
Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks are no exception to that, and they were reminded of that this weekend when it was announced that talented KU forward Flory Bidunga is entering the transfer portal.
The former five-star recruit was almost certainly going to be a starter on next year’s team alongside incoming phenom freshman Darryn Peterson, who recently said Bidunga was the player he was most looking forward to play with.
Although it was reported that Bidunga is open to returning to KU, the news sent shockwaves through the Kansas Jayhawks online community with many throwing out blame and offering their thoughts on why Bidunga would make this decision.
Many have suggested that it has to do with money, and that Bidunga is entering the transfer portal to try and force KU’s hand to pony up more through Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
However, Bidunga’s guardian Dillon Craft told Shreyas Laddha of the Kansas City Star that the decision did not have anything to do with NIL – and that makes sense in a lot of ways.
Kansas is a blue blood basketball program with what is surely one of the best and most competitive NIL offerings in the country. It’s unclear how much Bidunga is currently making through NIL at KU, but it’s not unreasonable to think that KU has the resources to provide top dollar to its most coveted players and could match most (if not all) other offers that another school could make.
Perhaps it’s an issue of KU not willing to pay what Bidunga is now looking for, but that seems unlikely knowing how important Bidunga is/was to this team’s chances next season.
Unfortunately, the more likely reason behind Bidunga’s entrance into the transfer portal (whether it’s been spoken or unspoken) is his relationship with Self and the KU coaching staff.
Coming into the 2024-25 season, it was known that Hunter Dickinson (for better or worse) was going to be KU’s star and main focal point, particularly on offense. Bidunga surely knew that as well, even though it was announced that Dickinson was returning to KU after Bidunga had signed his letter of intent.
What Bidunga and his camp might not have foreseen is how his playing time was going to be impacted by the likes of KJ Adams.
We don’t know exactly what Bidunga was told by Self and the KU coaching staff coming out of high school regarding his playing time and role in this year’s team, but it’s unlikely that as a top 25 recruit he planned to only play an average of 16 minutes per game while Adams averaged 30 minutes per game.
When Adams was out with a shoulder injury earlier this year, Bidunga averaged 13 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3 blocks in those three games. On the season, Adams averaged just 9.4 points, 5 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game.
It was clear that Bidunga had the higher upside and capability, but when Adams returned from injury, Bidunga’s minutes shrunk and his time on the bench again rose. Self seemingly favoring his seniors over other players on the team was a big point of contention among fans this past season.
Self didn’t trust Bidunga over his beloved seniors, and as a result, that may have diminished the trust between player and coach.
It wouldn’t be the first time a player had a disagreement with a coach over playing time and it won’t be the last. But for an established program like KU to lose one of its best players unexpectedly to the transfer portal, it raises questions that deserve to be asked.
To clarify, this is all just an educated guess. Hopefully, it is a matter that can get resolved in the coming weeks and Bidunga returns to this team and has a monster sophomore season as many of us envisioned.
But if not, we may look back on Self’s coaching decisions this past year as the reason why Bidunga ultimately decided to leave.