Normally I would have written an early season blog about my beloved Jayhawks basketball team. But this team is puzzling. They are good, extraordinarily good. In fact, this is the best, deepest Kansas team since the squad that won it all in 2008. This team doesn't have the unbelievable depth along the front line that the 2008 Jayhawks possessed but the game has changed and having bigs like Sasha Kaun, Darrel Arthur, Darnell Jackson and Cole Aldrich isn't quite as important.
This Kansas team has Braun and Agbaji, two forwards who can fill it up on any given night. It's like Brandon Rush rolled into one. Then you have Remy Martin, a transfer point guard who can shoot lights out, sort of like Mario Chalmers. Oh, and then there's sophomore guard Dujuan Harris who likes to distribute the ball and play defense, kind of like Russell Robinson. The mystery man is center David McCormack, who played like a hot mess the first five games of the season but has suddenly settled down. He's a poor man's Darrel Arthur on offense and a poorer man's Sasha Kaun on defense.
The good thing about McCormack is for the first time in a couple of years Kansas has some front line depth which takes some pressure off of him. Mitch Lightfoot is turning 30 (just kidding) and will end up playing more games than any player in K.U. history thanks to COVID. He's a capable back up. The real sauce will be from two freshmen, the unbelievably athletic K.J. Adams and the silky smooth Zach Clemence. Adams is going to be a force, but that lies in the future. Clemence can shoot and has decent hops. Both can give the Jayhawks minutes if there are foul issues.
The toughest thing about this team is that it is way too deep. Jalen Wilson was a freshman star. Now he's struggling to find minutes and with his size and defensive ability, the Jayhawks will need him. I don't understand Jalen Coleman-Lands or Joseph Yesufu. These two transfer can be instant offense but Kansas only needed one of them, not both. I smell some transfers at the semester.
The hidden jewel in this depth of talent is freshman point guard Bobby Pettiford. He could be the next Frank Mason or Sherron Collins. He's a human bowling ball who can drive without fear through the lane and he's the kind of physical guard that Bill Self loves. An injury has temporarily sidelined Pettiford and he will be needed when conference play starts.
Kansas is so deep that it's best freshman recruit, Kyle Cuffe, is redshirting this year. The Kansas roster of 18 players has 12 players that can start on any team in the Big 12 Conference. The 2008 team had a similar amount of depth. So I'm saying that this team is a lock to make it to the Final 4. The team can stand to lose any one of its five starters save for McCormack and still make a deep tournament run. It's going to be a fun run to March Madness.
