So based on the reports and what we saw on Late Night. I’m guessing things look like this as of now:

Starters:
Harris
Mayo
Storr
KJ Adams
Dickinson

Bench (in the rotation):
Passmore
Griffen
Coit
Bidunga

Bench (outside looking in):
Shakeel Moore (injury, maybe redshirt?)
McDowell (could have the occasional impact, but another redshirt candidate. Travis Releford 2.0?)
Noah Shelby (I don’t see him cracking the above)
Zach Clemence (break glass in emergency 4th big. Can he be a Lightfoot level player?)

What we know:

Self trusts his guys. Harris, Adams, Dickinson are going to see major minutes.
Storr should be plug and play.
Bench is vastly improved. We have significantly more margin for error than the last two seasons.
Outside shooting is abundant. Finally should have some spacing again.
Unlikely to see someone on the court that doesn’t look like a legit D1 player. Too many options.

What we don’t know:

How many minutes for Bidunga and where do they come from? I have a feeling we’ll be begging for more by conference play. Will Self take minutes from Adams?
How well do the new guys defend?
Is Passmore a project? Or does he push Mayo to become the 5th starter? Upside is there.
Can we see some load management for Harris and Dickinson this year? We have the bodies again.
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There's a roster construction issue for this team as long as KJ Adams continues to start at the 4...
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I’d rather see him as a bench energy big who comes in for small periods. Kinda like he did in 2022.

I’ve accepted that won’t happen though.

We have so many guards, that I’d prefer to start 4 guards and rotate Dickinson/Bidunga at the 5.
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One thing I know is our defense will be worse and our offense will be better.
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McCullar was pretty incredible when he cared and was healthy.

Furphy was one of the worst defenders of the Bill Self era though.
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Unless Adams can suddenly shoot the mid-range to 3 pt line, yeah, it's not going to be good. Adams allows teams too much flexibility in how they guard us.
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It’s also kinda weird how bad of a rebounder he is.

You’d think with his effort and athleticism that he’d be able to rebound better.

I know he’s shorter than a lot of forwards, but Dejuan Blair (Pitt) was similar size. He found a way to be a good rebounder.
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Yes, I would go so far as saying KU has no business being ranked #1 as long as KJ Adams is playing 30+ minutes a game with Dickinson. Teams will just not guard him again, especially on a team with this many good offensive players/shooters.

Unfortunate as this team has more depth of talent than any Self team in many years.
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The bit of hope I do see with KJ is that Self did change up the lineup in 2017 to get the best 5 on the court.

He started the year with Jackson at the 3, Bragg at the 4, and Lucas at the 5. That was a much more traditional lineup and kept Lucas as the starting 5 as a senior.

Even before conference play, it was evident that Svi and Doke needed to be in that lineup.

Svi started at the 3, Jackson at the 4 (small ball 4, which was new for a Self team), and Doke at the 5.

Hopefully Bidunga or one of the bench guards are so good that Self has to switch things up.
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KJ has no business starting. He'd be great off the bench.

Self loves "his guys" too much. He's the best coach in college basketball. I guess you take that as part of having the best coach on your team.
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Agree across the board.

Self can be convinced otherwise though. Luckily, we have a really tough non-con this year. KJ won’t be able to just look good against bad teams.

I’m sure guys like Passmore, Griffen, and Bidunga will have every chance to crack the lineup.

I’m also more concerned with minutes over starting. I don’t really care if KJ starts, but I’d like to see him have fewer minutes. 30+ will be hard to stomach. Ideally, he’s around 20 and playing in a variety of lineups. I won’t hold my breath though.
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Self plays guys he trusts. He trusts KJ. He'll play.

Unless someone earns his trust who makes the team better than the baseline KJ can provide.
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Men's Bracketology: 2025 NCAA Tournament https://t.co/146SOUv6MW. 🏀🏀 As Kansas enters the 2024-25 season as the nation's No. 1 team, it's worth reviewing just how elite the Jayhawks have been under Bill Self. The five preseason No. 1 rankings, including the past two Octobers,…

— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) October 22, 2024

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KJ has value, a lot of it but it should be matchup based. I wouldn’t mind 30 minutes if it works but if it doesn’t there needs to be a quick hook.

KJ can be really effective against the right guys, and really ineffective against others.
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New Season!
New Players!
New Conf. Teams!

Going to be an interesting year!
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