Bill Self quizzed about potential starting lineup with KU basketball preseason underway

Kansas coach Bill Self on Wednesday, the first day of the 2024-25 college basketball preseason, tackled a question he’ll address many times in advance of the regular-season opener against Howard on Nov. 4 at refurbished Allen Fieldhouse.

That is … who will emerge as the five starters for his 22nd KU team?

“I would say it’d be hard to keep Juan, KJ, ‘Hunt’ and Zeke out of the lineup,” Self said Wednesday, speaking as a guest on the Field of 68 podcast. He was referring to returning starters Dajuan Harris, KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson as well as former South Dakota State sharpshooter Zeke Mayo, a senior guard who played his high school basketball at Lawrence High.

“Zeke has been our most consistent, best guy since June in my opinion,” Self added. “We’ve got ‘Hunt’ (as inside force at 7-foot-2, 265), it’d be nice if we could stretch the defense around him to give him more opportunity to work. KJ is not a guy that can do that,” he added of the 6-7 Adams who is known for his inside to mid-range game more than outside shooting.

“KJ can do a lot of things. He’s improved so much. The bottom line is we need some shooting around those two. Zeke provides that as much as anybody,” Self added.

Self was asked about a player that logically could fit into the Jayhawks’ starting lineup: junior guard AJ Storr, Wisconsin’s leading scorer from a year ago.

“I don’t know yet,” Self said, asked how the 6-foot-7, 205-pound Storr will “fit in” during his junior campaign. “I know how we want him to fit in, but how (do) we get him to do what we want? You know what I think he should be? I think he should be the best offensive rebounder in the country. I don’t think that’s how he’s thought (about his game). That’s not a knock to anybody else.. He’s thinking, ‘Just give me the ball and get out of my way.’ The way that we play (is), one, ball and body movement. When you get it shoot it, drive it or pass it, but it can’t stick. It’s a different deal for him.

“The other thing about it is as strong as he is and as athletic as he is, he shouldn’t get screened. He should be a tremendous defender. I’m talking about offensive rebounding, being a lockdown defender. He’s probably thinking, ‘Whoa, whoa, what have I gotten myself into?’’’

Speaking about NBA prospects Dickinson and Storr, Self stated: “What they need to do in my opinion is show (NBA) people what they haven’t shown them yet. Hunter can score. He is a great passer. He has to do that for our team to be good, but can he get out of a ball screen? Can he guard a ball screen? Can he protect the paint? Is he a rim protector? Can he rebound outside his area?

“You do those things and don’t make one basket, NBA people will leave more turned on than if he had 30 (points) and AJ is a little bit the same way I think. If we can get (Storr) turned on to do some things that’s different from what he knows he can do … So many times as a player we fall into our comfort zone. We gravitate into what we know and what we do whereas what would NBA people think if on every miss, AJ’s picking up 90 feet and allowing somebody else to run through a pass because he’s out pressuring hard, which he can do? That’s well within his makeup.”

Self continued on Storr: “What his role is going to be will be probably a little different than what it has been in the past. I don’t want to take away from his scoring, I just want him to add playing to his own athletic ability.”

On Day 1 of the preseason, Self is high on the potential of freshmen Flory Bidunga and Rakease Passmore.

“Flory has a chance to be special. Flory is going to get his opportunities. Flory is the best prospect we’ve had here without question since Josh (Jackson),” Self said of Bidunga, a 6-9, 220-pound forward from Democratic Republic of Congo. “Whether that translates to whatever as a freshman, but it’s going to translate to it eventually whenever that time comes.

“Rakease is an Ochai Agbaji type, not going to be there as a freshman, but over time ooh,” Self exclaimed. “He is an athlete. He is tough,” he added of the 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard from Palatka, Florida.

Asked by podcast host Jeff Goodman if Bidunga would get significant minutes as a first-year player, Self said: “The bottom line is: What do you do when you are in there? How many rebounds per minute are you getting as opposed to how many total you are getting? There are some things that get a little twisted. Players may look at it as, ‘I may not be getting the opportunities,’ and I think some people would look at it as, ‘What are you doing with the opportunities that you do get?’”

Self also noted that senior Dickinson has, “become a very good leader. I’ll be honest, he’s been a 10. I mean he cares about his teammates. He is extremely unselfish. He is unbelievably bright. He’s a worker. He gets it. Whatever he does is done with the intention of the best interests of his teammates and us being good. He’s been amazing. If he gets an NIL deal, the first people he wants to take care of is (teammates): ‘Hey guys these people want to do this with me. I’m not going to do it unless I can take care of you guys out of this.’ He’s just been great.”

KU, which ended a two-week Boot Camp conditioning program on Friday, could have held the first official practice of the preseason on Monday, but gave the players off until Wednesday.

Late Night in the Phog is set for Oct. 18 at Allen. The Jayhawks will play an exhibition game for charity on Oct. 25 at Arkansas.