The Kansas Jayhawks had a disappointing year by their standards after they were bounced in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by Gonzaga. One of the big issues was losing top scorer Kevin McCullar prior to the tournament getting underway. As head coach Bill Self looks to build for next year’s team, he already scored a major win in the transfer portal.
On Easter Sunday, former Florida Gators guard Riley Kugel announced that he would be heading to Lawrence for next season. Kugel posted his decision on X, formerly Twitter. In the post you can see a couple of photos of him wearing Kansas gear as a child. Apparently, it was always meant to be for Kugel.
Rock chalk ❤️💙 #LLA🕊️#HapoyEaster pic.twitter.com/aFqEQCW76F
— Riley Kugel (@RileyKugel) March 31, 2024
The former Florida guard was listed as the No. 9 point guard in the transfer portal and No. 39 player overall by 247Sports. Coming out of high school in the 2022 cycle, Kugel was a four-star prospect and No. 56 nationally. This gives Self a good start to build around his 2024-25 roster.
Kugel is one of four newcomers to the 2024 class. He is joined by five-star center Flory Bidunga, four-star point guard Labaron Philon, and four-star shooting guard Rakease Passmore. All of who signed out of high school recently.
With the Gators, Kugel averaged 9.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 65 career games with Florida.
Kansas Jayhawks who won’t return
The following players won’t join the roster next season as each are out of college eligibility.
- Kevin McCullar Jr, Texas Tech Transfer
- Parker Braun, Santa Clara Transfer
- Nicolas Timberlake, Towson Transfer
Kansas Jayhawks who could return
No players have announced yet if they will return but here is the list of players who could return. With the three signees and one transfer, that would leave the team with one open scholarship spot on the team due to NCAA penalties.
- Hunter Dickinson, Center
- Dajuan Harris Jr, Guard
- Johnny Furphy, Guard
- Jamari McDowell, Guard
- Elmarko Jackson, Guard
- KJ Adams Jr., Forward
- Zach Clemence, Forward