Now that KU's roster for the 2024-25 season is updated and complete, I thought this would be a good time to share some of my thoughts and feelings with you guys after updating the roster here at JayhawkSlant.com for the last couple of days.
-- When the season ended, I remember some people suggesting that it might be best for Hunter Dickinson to move on and allow Coach Self to go in a different direction. On a number of occasions, I forced myself to go back and read those posts multiple times, because that's just crazy talk. I still can't believe that some people thought, and might still think, that the 2024-25 team would be better without Hunter Dickinson. The man averaged 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. As good as Dickinson was last year, he can be better this upcoming season. He finished the season shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from behind the arc, and 62.4 percent from the free-throw line. It didn't happen often, but there were games last season when Dickinson struggled to get going on the offensive end of the court and didn't have much of an impact on the game. Again, it didn't happen often, but when looking back at that team, if Dickinson wasn't a factor on the offensive end, that was bad news for Kansas.
-- If Kansas is going to get back to playing at that Final Four/National Championship level, Dajuan Harris, Jr., has to perform much better this season. I think we can all agree that last season was a struggle for KU's point guard. To me, it just felt like Harris, Jr., never got on track and it was a struggle for a lot of the season. Harris, Jr., last season, averaged 8.5 points and 6.5 assists per game. In starting all 34 games, Harris, Jr., shot 42.4 percent from the field, 38.4 percent from behind the arc, and 80.4 percent from the free-throw line. While he led the way with 221 assists, Harris, Jr., also turned the ball over 80 times last season. With KU's updated roster, Harris, Jr., shouldn't feel any additional pressure to score the ball, but I'd sure love to see him shoot from the outside when open. Throughout his career, Harris, Jr., has turned down quite a few open looks from behind the arc
-- My hope for KJ Adams is that he continues to play his role and not force himself to be something he's not. By now, we all know who Adams, Jr., is on the basketball court and I'm not sure that's going to change, which isn't a bad thing at all. He'll continue to work on expanding his game on the offensive end of the court, but I'm not sure he's ever going to be the type of player who can score down low and also step outside and score from behind the arc. Adams, Jr., so far in his career, has been at his best around the basket, flying above the rim for dunks and getting out in transition. He plays with a ton of energy and passion and is the type of player that every team needs in order to be successful. Changing up his style now or trying to be a different player would be a costly mistake, not only for Adams, Jr., but the 2024-25 team.
-- Last season, everything that could have possibly gone wrong, and I mean everything, did just that, or pretty damn close, for Bill Self and his squad. Chris Johnson never made it to campus, Marcus Adams left shortly after arriving, and Arterio Morris was removed from the roster. Elmarko Jackson and Nicolas Timberlake struggled for much of the season, while Kevin McCullar, Jr., and Hunter Dickinson were injured down the stretch. Dickinson returned in time for the NCAA Tournament, but McCullar, Jr., never made it back to the court after playing just 15 minutes against Houston on March 9. With little depth and two key players injured down the stretch, Self had very few options last season.
In 2024-25, Bill Self will look to bounce back with a roster that features the likes of Shakeel Moore, Hunter Dickinson, AJ Storr, Dajuan Harris, Jr., Rakease Passmore, Zeke Mayo, Rylan Griffen, Jamari McDowell, KJ Adams, Jr., Flory Bidunga, and Zach Clemence. There's absolutely nothing that can be done about injuries, and Kansas already suffered a major blow with the loss of Elmarko Jackson, but the talent is in place to compete for another National Championship. Self added a ton of talent from the transfer portal and those guys need to produce from start to finish. As I mentioned above, last season was a struggle for guys like Jackson and Timberlake
This season, Kansas simply can't afford to have guys like Storr, Mayo, and Griffen struggle for much of the season.
-- When the season ended, I remember some people suggesting that it might be best for Hunter Dickinson to move on and allow Coach Self to go in a different direction. On a number of occasions, I forced myself to go back and read those posts multiple times, because that's just crazy talk. I still can't believe that some people thought, and might still think, that the 2024-25 team would be better without Hunter Dickinson. The man averaged 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. As good as Dickinson was last year, he can be better this upcoming season. He finished the season shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from behind the arc, and 62.4 percent from the free-throw line. It didn't happen often, but there were games last season when Dickinson struggled to get going on the offensive end of the court and didn't have much of an impact on the game. Again, it didn't happen often, but when looking back at that team, if Dickinson wasn't a factor on the offensive end, that was bad news for Kansas.
-- If Kansas is going to get back to playing at that Final Four/National Championship level, Dajuan Harris, Jr., has to perform much better this season. I think we can all agree that last season was a struggle for KU's point guard. To me, it just felt like Harris, Jr., never got on track and it was a struggle for a lot of the season. Harris, Jr., last season, averaged 8.5 points and 6.5 assists per game. In starting all 34 games, Harris, Jr., shot 42.4 percent from the field, 38.4 percent from behind the arc, and 80.4 percent from the free-throw line. While he led the way with 221 assists, Harris, Jr., also turned the ball over 80 times last season. With KU's updated roster, Harris, Jr., shouldn't feel any additional pressure to score the ball, but I'd sure love to see him shoot from the outside when open. Throughout his career, Harris, Jr., has turned down quite a few open looks from behind the arc
-- My hope for KJ Adams is that he continues to play his role and not force himself to be something he's not. By now, we all know who Adams, Jr., is on the basketball court and I'm not sure that's going to change, which isn't a bad thing at all. He'll continue to work on expanding his game on the offensive end of the court, but I'm not sure he's ever going to be the type of player who can score down low and also step outside and score from behind the arc. Adams, Jr., so far in his career, has been at his best around the basket, flying above the rim for dunks and getting out in transition. He plays with a ton of energy and passion and is the type of player that every team needs in order to be successful. Changing up his style now or trying to be a different player would be a costly mistake, not only for Adams, Jr., but the 2024-25 team.
-- Last season, everything that could have possibly gone wrong, and I mean everything, did just that, or pretty damn close, for Bill Self and his squad. Chris Johnson never made it to campus, Marcus Adams left shortly after arriving, and Arterio Morris was removed from the roster. Elmarko Jackson and Nicolas Timberlake struggled for much of the season, while Kevin McCullar, Jr., and Hunter Dickinson were injured down the stretch. Dickinson returned in time for the NCAA Tournament, but McCullar, Jr., never made it back to the court after playing just 15 minutes against Houston on March 9. With little depth and two key players injured down the stretch, Self had very few options last season.
In 2024-25, Bill Self will look to bounce back with a roster that features the likes of Shakeel Moore, Hunter Dickinson, AJ Storr, Dajuan Harris, Jr., Rakease Passmore, Zeke Mayo, Rylan Griffen, Jamari McDowell, KJ Adams, Jr., Flory Bidunga, and Zach Clemence. There's absolutely nothing that can be done about injuries, and Kansas already suffered a major blow with the loss of Elmarko Jackson, but the talent is in place to compete for another National Championship. Self added a ton of talent from the transfer portal and those guys need to produce from start to finish. As I mentioned above, last season was a struggle for guys like Jackson and Timberlake
This season, Kansas simply can't afford to have guys like Storr, Mayo, and Griffen struggle for much of the season.
