Could Kansas basketball’s ‘most improved player’ be in line for a bigger role?

As the Kansas men’s basketball team continues to round out its roster, forward Zach Clemence is a returnee from last year’s team who didn’t play a single minute, yet could be in line for an important role.

Clemence redshirted last season, but Kansas coach Bill Self remains optimistic about his play.

“Zach Clemence, who didn’t play this past year … he’s a really good player at 6-10,” Self told Andy Katz of NCAA.com.

Self has repeatedly praised Clemence, a four-star forward and top-100 recruit from the 2021 high school class, over the last year.

“Zach is the most improved player on our team,” Self said at KU’s end-of-year banquet. “He actually had a great year this year. We redshirted him. Of course there were many times this year we wished we would not have. But he’s gotten so much better and his confidence level, I think, is as high as it’s been.

“I think it came from a mindset. He’s (become) a lot stronger. He got a lot more physical, tougher, and just got more complete in large part because he may have been stronger and tougher.”

Amid speculation that he’d potentially leave the team, Clemence told The Star in March that he’s “most likely coming back” — which has turned out to be true as Clemence hasn’t entered the transfer portal.

He also told The Star he doesn’t know what his role will look like but is willing to do whatever the team needs.

The assessment of his play from the KU coaching staff has also been positive: “Feedback has been good, and everyone’s super supportive. They let you know when you get better,” Clemence said.

A program source reiterated that statement, telling The Star that Clemence looked impressive at practices during the season.

But there are still questions surrounding the role Clemence will fill in a crowded KU frontcourt. Starters Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams are back. Five-star freshman big man Flory Bidunga is set to join the team.

Clemence will likely be Dickinson’s backup, especially early in the season, as Bidunga gets adjusted to college play. Clemence could also spell Adams for minutes when Bidunga is playing, likely at the five.

Coming out of Sunrise Christian Academy, Clemence was a stretch big. At KU, he’s mostly played the center spot. The assumption many people make is that Clemence is a four, but Self doesn’t agree that he’s limited to that position.

“I don’t know that I totally agree with that,” Self said on his Hawk Talk radio show in February. “I think Zach’s just a player. I think you can play him pretty much anywhere.”

The last time Clemence played college basketball, 2022-23, he averaged 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in 5.9 minutes while battling injuries.

Last summer, the forward turned down an opportunity to play at Santa Barbara and instead returned to Kansas to redshirt as a junior. His mother Dusti explained that decision to The Star last June.

“He could come back to Kansas, work out, get stronger, get better (and) work on his defense. He already knows the system. He knows everyone,” Dusti said.

His redshirt season has seemed to help in that way.

“He’s a much more physically gifted, athletic, play-through-contact type player this year,” Self said in February. “I think Zach would agree with that.”