The Kansas Jayhawks enter this season as the favorite to win the championship, which would be their second in three years. The Jayhawks lost their top two leading scorers from a season ago, but they return three starters. Add in two of the best transfers in the portal (including undoubtedly the best one) and a top-10 recruiting class; this squad is loaded. I almost put them as my number one team. Think of this ranking less as #2 and more as #1B.
You can see the previous teams in my rankings here.
Preseason College Basketball Rankings: #2 Kansas Jayhawks
Dajuan Harris Jr. is back for one last hoorah in Lawrence. He is arguably the best past-first point guard in the country. He is also an exceptional defender. Harris had the second-most assists and second-most steals in the Big 12, arguably the country’s best conference, last season. He was also a starter on the national championship team two years ago. Kevin McCullar Jr. is incredibly versatile and does everything out on the wing. He was fourth in the conference in total rebounds (second in defensive rebounds), fourth in steals, and averaged just under 11 points per game. KJ Adams Jr. played well last year as a sophomore. He was great on the offensive glass, grabbing 74 offensive rebounds, the fourth-most in the conference.
Hunter Dickinson was the undisputed best player to enter the transfer portal. At first, it was thought that he would go back home to the DMV to a place like Georgetown or Maryland, but Kansas lured him in. The former consensus All-American is one of the most dominant players in college basketball. He was fourth in the Big Ten in points, rebounds, and blocks last season at Michigan. Dickinson can win the National Player of the Year award this year.
Dickinson isn’t the only high-impact transfer that Bill Self reeled in; the other is Nicolas Timberlake. He had an incredible few years at Towson, especially the last two. Last year, he shot 49.5% from inside the arc, 41.6% from outside, and averaged 17.7 points per game, which was third-best in the CAA.
The Jayhawks also boast a top-10 recruiting class. Headlining the four-man class is Elmarko Jackson. The top-20 recruit has a great combination of speed and power. He can get downhill really well and draws a lot of fouls. On defense he is capable of guarding multiple positions. Another member of the class is Australian small forward Johnny Furphy. He was a late pledge, having committed on August 2nd, but he is top 40 in the class. Two other four-star top-100 recruits are also in the class.
Projected Lineup
C – Hunter Dickinson (18.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 1.8 BPG at Michigan)
PF – KJ Adams Jr. (10.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.8 BPG)
SF/SG – Kevin McCullar Jr. (10.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.4 APG, 2.0 SPG, 0.7 BPG)
SG – Nicolas Timberlake (17.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.4 BPG at Towson)
PG – Dajuan Harris Jr. (8.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 6.2 APG, 2.2 SPG, 0.4 BPG)
