No. 1 Kansas looks to shake off a disappointing end to the 2023-24 season when its revitalized roster opens the new campaign with a nonconference game against Howard on Monday in Lawrence, Kan.
The Jayhawks are picked to win the sturdy Big 12 Conference, while the Bison are predicted to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The Jayhawks are one of five Big 12 teams in the preseason AP top 10, joined by No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 Arizona.
Howard, which has won the MEAC tournament and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament each of the past two years, is led by Bryce Harris, the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, and Marcus Dockery, a All-MEAC preseason second-team selection.
Harris led the Bison with 16.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, from the guard position, last season. Dockery finished third on the team with 13.5 points per game.
The Bison are hoping an early-August trip to Brazil will galvanize this year’s squad.
“This trip is a huge part of our student-athlete experience,” Howard coach Kenneth Blakeney said. “To expose them to another continent and a place that most of our student-athletes have never gone to is exciting for me.
“Our program is about exposure and the opportunity to have our kids spend time in a place that we have heard about and seen pictures of, which is something they will not soon forget.”
The Jayhawks have size, depth and experience, as they return three of their top five scorers from the 23-11 squad that lost to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. Kansas dropped five of its final seven games dating back to the regular season.
Hunter Dickinson, named to the AP Preseason All-America team, leads this year’s squad. The senior center was a consensus second-team selection last season, when he finished with 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.
The two other stars back from last year’s team are KJ Adams Jr. (12.6 points and 4.6 rebounds) and Dajuan Harris (8.5 points, 6.5 assists and 1.5 steals).
The Jayhawks also brought in a solid transfer class, including David Coit (from Northern Illinois), Rylan Griffin (Alabama), Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State), Shakeel Moore (Mississippi State) and AJ Storr (Wisconsin).
“I like them,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of his transfers. “I think they all have a chance to contribute, and you can make a case where they’ve all been one of our better players on any particular day thus far, whether it’s David Coit or Zeke Mayo or AJ or Rylan or Shakeel.”
Kansas’ recruiting class includes two highly touted freshmen, Rakease Passmore and Flory Bidunga.
Finding minutes for a roster full of stars is a perennial job for Self, something he always undersells — and this year is no different.
“I think the question will be coming from a different place — it’s this way with all coaches and all programs,” Self said. “How do they fit in with your present players and how do they fit in playing differently than maybe the way they played at their different place.
“I don’t think we’re quite comfortable yet. I think we have more talent. I think we’re more athletic. I think we shoot it a little bit better. But do they fit exactly the way we’ve won over time? I think that still remains to be seen.”
