Although the roster on the Kansas basketball page hasn't been updated yet, Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. are back at KU and able to practice with the team. White rejoined the team last week, and head coach Bill Self made the Council announcment on Sunday.
The Jayhawks roster now has its full allotment of of 15 players, plus grandfathered walk-on Will Thengvall. This may be the deepest roster in Kansas basketball history. It also sets up one of Bill Self's toughest assignments in his career. How does he find playing time for everyone?
The hardest part of all of this is it is not yet certain that White and Council will remain eligible for any or all games. They are allowed to join the team and practice, but there is no guarantee the courts will hold up the injunctions. Self appears willing to take his chances and see what happens.
The dawg is back 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/ePfGZyI0if
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) October 4, 2026
This Kansas basketball team has the chance to be something special
Through the Phog has discussed how White and Council will fit with this roster. White seems to have a clearer path for playing time than Council, but the latter brings experience and intensity that Self loves. The biggest issue is that the Jayhawks already have two other dual-threat point guards in Taylen Kinney and Leroy Blyden Jr., and it will be difficult for all three to get enough playing time.
Self has a tendency to restrict his rotation to seven or eight players once the schedule gets into conference play. This roster could and should go much deeper. The list of players who should expect playing time is realistically 13 deep.
Guards
- Taylen Kinney
- Leroy Blyden Jr.
- Melvin Council Jr.
- Kohl Rosario
- Dennis Parker Jr.
Forwards
- Tyran Stokes
- Keanu Dawes
- Tre White
- Luke Barnett
- Trent Perry
- Atticus Richmond
Centers
- Christian Reeves
- Paul Mbiya
- Davion Adkins
- Grant Mordini
Outside of Richmond, Mordini, and the walk-on Thengvall, all others could earn playing time. It seems likely the two that will be left out are Perry and Barnett. Those two may have to use this season as a developmental year and wait until next season for significant playing time.
That still leaves 11. Kinney, Blyden, and Council might be interchangable at the point guard spot, but all three could play off the ball as well. Rosario and Parker can all play the shooting guard spot, and White can play there as well. Barnett can be called on if Self needs a three-point shooter.
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Stokes, White, Perry, and Barnett play at the small forward spot, but Stokes will certainly get most of the minutes at that three-spot. Dawes, White, and Adkins will man the four-spot, and Reeves, Mbiya, and Adkins will rotate at center.
There is a lot of flexibility with this roster and a lot of talent. What would be very intriguing is to see Self push for a full-court, up-tempo pace. The old 40-minutes-of-hell brand of basketball. Have everyone just go as hard and as fast as they can on both ends of the court and substitute freely, keeping the players fresh.
Self has plenty of players who can handle the ball and guys who can get up and down the court. It would be exciting to see KU completely buy into that fast-paced style of basketball. White and Council give him the players to do this if they are ruled eligible to play all season.
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