The Jayhawks basketball program has historically been a “choose your own adventure” for college basketball prospects. Many players stay 4-5 years at KU, such as Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack, Dajuan Harris Jr., and KJ Adams. Others opt for the one-and-done route and enter the NBA draft after one year, such as Darryn Peterson, Gradey Dick, and Johnny Furphy, among others.
More recently, there has also been an increasing amount of transfers in and out of Lawrence thanks to the ever-changing college basketball scene and NIL. For the first time ever, even the elite prospects are entering the transfer portal despite having an established role under Bill Self, such as Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller, who left for Louisville and Missouri respectively.
What if every Jayhawk stayed all four years in Kansas, though? What if prospects never opted for the transfer portal to leave the Crimson and Blue? How elite would KU look this season?
Look no further, Through the Phog has officially created the “Jayhawk Dream” 8-man rotation: A team including current Jayhawks and some of the best former KU players that would still have college eligibility this upcoming season if they had stayed in college and/or stayed at Kansas… and boy does it look dangerous!
Notable players that missed the cut by one season of eligibility: Gradey Dick (2022-2023), Zuby Ejiofor (2022-2023), Ernest Udeh (2022-2023), Rylan Griffen (2024-2025), AJ Storr (2024-2025), Melvin Council (2025-2026), and Tre White (2025-2026).
The “Jayhawk Dream” 8-man rotation:
PG: Taylen Kinney (FR) / Leroy Blyden Jr. (SO)
SG: Darryn Peterson (SO) / Leroy Blyden Jr. (SO)
SF: Johnny Furphy (SR) / Tyran Stokes (FR)
PF: Tyran Stokes (FR) / Bryson Tiller (SO)
C: Flory Bidunga (JR) / Keanu Dawes (SR)
This Jayhawks team would 100% be the favorites to win the NCAA National Championship, but how would this roster with a surplus of talent actually function?
The “Jayhawk Dream” 8-man rotation roles
Starting with the current Jayhawks that would still be on the team, we have the two freshmen phenoms, Tyran Stokes and Taylen Kinney, as well as sophomore Leroy Blyden Jr. and senior Keanu Dawes. In this scenario, Stokes slides to PF (for an important reason), Kinney still starts at PG as more of a facilitator, and Blyden Jr. and Dawes transition to impactful bench roles.
Two short-lived KU legends return in this scenario as well in Darryn Peterson, who was drafted 2nd overall in the NBA draft, and Johnny Furphy, who was a one-and-done 3 years ago and would be entering his senior year for the Jayhawks in this scenario. While Stokes will likely be a scoring machine, he would share the offensive responsibilities with Peterson and Furphy.
Peterson was already a 20+ PPG guy last season, but being able to play off of better scoring threats like Furphy, Stokes, and even Kinney, would be a match made in heaven. Meanwhile, Furphy would undoubtedly be a monster as well and might have reminded many KU fans of a more versatile Svi Mykhailiuk, who averaged 14.6 PPG on 44.4% 3FGs in 2017-2018.
The last pieces of this rotation puzzle are the big men transfers that the KU faithful might no longer think fondly of in Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller. While neither chose to stay with Kansas, Bidunga is still an elite defensive center and incredible lob threat, and Tiller would undoubtedly provide great depth at the PF spot behind Stokes.
Stokes’ interchangeability to perform at SF or PF would also allow this “Jayhawk Dream” lineup to go big or small depending on need and the specific matchup. While college basketball has never been more competitive, there’s a chance that this group of KU ballers might even flirt with a perfect season in this crazy imaginary world. Rock Chalk!
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