Category: Kansas Jayhawks

Former Florida guard commits to Kansas on Easter

The Kansas Jayhawks added a talented guard from the SEC on Sunday.

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.

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

Without Kevin McCullar, Kansas on upset watch against Samford

The shorthanded Kansas Jayhawks will be without star guard Kevin McCullar Jr in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, which could lead to an early exit in March Madness.

The Kansas Jayhawks earned a four seed in the NCAA Tournament after a pedestrian – by their standard – 10-8 record in Big 12 play and an exit in the first round of the conference tournament at the hands of Cincinnati.

Kansas was missing Kevin McCullar Jr and Hunter Dickinson in that contest, their two leading scorers, and while Dickinson will be back for the team’s first round matchup against the No. 13 seed Samford Bulldogs – McCullar is reportedly going to miss the entire NCAA Tournament with a nagging knee injury.

McCullar missed a few regular season games prior to his absence against the Bearcats, but when he was on the floor he was an incredibly dynamic two-way player for the Jayhawks – averaging 18.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists while shooting 45.4% from the field and playing at an elite level defensively.

Beyond the loss of McCullar and his specific skill set, this loss exacerbates what has been an ongoing issue for Kansas this season – a lack of depth.

Self has never been one to play a deep bench, but this year’s Jayhawks have been overly reliant on their big four of McCullar, Dickinson, KJ Adams, and Dajuan Harris to get them through night in and night out.

Kansas tried freshman Elmarko Jackson and Towson transfer Nick Timberlake to start at the two alongside the big four, but both struggled to contribute consistently offensively before the job was eventually given to Australian freshman Johnny Furphy.

Furphy has been far and away the best of the bunch, but now he’ll face even more pressure filling in for McCullar while one of Jackson and Timberlake step into a bigger role against the Bulldogs.

Samford’s press-heavy, constant pressure approach could cause serious issues for this depleted Kansas roster – and it is entirely possible we see the Jayhawks heading home unusually early in this year’s big dance.

Pair of Big 12 clashes are must-see TV on Saturday

These are the best games to check out in the Big 12 on Saturday.

The Big 12 is one of the deepest basketball conferences in the country with five teams ranked in the top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll.

It certainly makes for some interesting basketball in conference play. You can add that Texas, Cincinnati, Iowa State, TCU, and Texas Tech are all worthy of being ranked as well. Welcome to the murderer’s row of basketball.

With the college football season finished, eyes are coming back to the hardwood just in time for the run to March. On Saturday, there are plenty of games in the Big 12 to keep an eye on but here are the best ones.

No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners at No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks

NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas Jayhawks are both coming off disappointing losses for different reasons. The TCU Horned Frogs were able to take down OU thanks to the Sooners’ inability to score consistently in an 80-71 loss. Oklahoma trailed 78-61 with under two minutes to go but only managed a 10-2 run to cut the lead to nine before the final buzzer. On the other hand, Kansas built a nice first half lead at 35-19 with under four minutes to go. The Knights outscored the Jayhawks 46-25 over the next 24 minutes of basketball.

Who will get off the snide and avoid back-to-back losses just three games into Big 12 play? Tune in for the game at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

No. 2 Houston Cougars at TCU Horned Frogs

Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

The aforementioned TCU Horned Frogs will host the No. 2 team in the country in the early evening hours. The Houston Cougars are coming off their first loss of the season to a stingy Iowa State squad. The Cougars have averaged 75.3 points per game but were held to 22 points under that number by the Cyclones’ defense. They forced Houston to turn the ball over 16 times in that game. On the other side, you have a TCU squad that is coming off the upset victory of No. 3 Kansas, can they keep it going against No. 2 Houston? The plan should be the same as the Oklahoma matchup, keep your turnovers to a minimum while forcing the Cougs into making mistakes.

Does TCU get another huge win or does Houston rebound? Tune into that game at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Bonus Game: Kansas State Wildcats at Texas Tech Red Raiders

Olivia Raymond/For the Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jerome Tang (Kansas State) and Grant McCasland (Texas Tech) were longtime assistants for Scott Drew at Baylor, now they are adversaries. On Saturday, Texas Tech looks to extend their longest winning streak in the conference to 9 games. They are 2-0 in conference play after knocking off Texas and Oklahoma State. Kansas State is also 2-0 after wins over UCF and West Virginia.

Which team stays unbeaten in Big 12 play? Tune in at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2

USA TODAY Sports lists Tennessee, Ole Miss as bowl season winners

USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg named the Volunteers and the Rebels, as well as the playoff champs, as bowl season’s biggest champions.

With bowl season in the rearview mirror, USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg took to the internet to decide who the biggest champions were from the past two weeks in college football.

The list of course kicked off with the two playoff champions, Michigan and Washington. The Wolverines finally got over the hump for their first playoff victory after coming up empty the previous two years, and the Huskies rode a superstar performance from quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Outside of the final four, however, Myerberg pointed out a trio of SEC teams. Tennessee got glimpses of promising young quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who put up 178 yards of offense and scored four touchdowns against Iowa’s formidable defense, while Missouri’s win over Ohio State issued a statement about the Tigers’ place in the college football pantheon.

Ole Miss set itself up for some positive 2024 momentum as well by capping off the first 11-win season in program history. The Rebels will only get better as Myerberg pointed out quarterback Jaxson Dart’s 2024 return and the best incoming transfer portal class in the nation will set Lane Kiffin’s team up well for the 12-team playoff.

The USA TODAY Sports writer rounded out his column by tabbing Kansas, who beat UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, and Northwestern, who defeated Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl, as other big winners. His full insight, as well as his losers list, can be found here.

Kansas outlasts UNLV in Guaranteed Rate Bowl behind Jason Bean’s dominant day

The Jayhawks quarterback finished with a career-high 449 yards and six touchdowns, including three in the fourth quarter, on 28 attempts.

Kansas outdueled UNLV in an offensive showdown on Tuesday, coming away with a 49-36 victory in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl after senior quarterback Jason Bean tossed six touchdowns in a career day.

Bean, who threw for 1,681 yards this season, passed for a career-high 449 yards on just 28 attempts for the night. He finished the game averaging 16.0 yards per attempt, and four of his touchdown passes came on completions longer than 40 yards.

The Jayhawks’ scoring game in waves. After not putting any points on the board until the final two minutes of the first quarter, Kansas scored three touchdowns in the next nine minutes to fly out to a 21-7 lead.

The Rebels tried hard to pull back into the game, holding Kansas scoreless in the third quarter and scoring two touchdowns to make the deficit just four points, but Kansas ripped off another heater on offense. Bean threw three touchdowns in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, with all three touchdowns longer than 40 yards.

Jayhawks receivers Luke Grimm and Lawrence Arnold shouldn’t go unmentioned, either. The two combined for 292 yards on just 10 receptions, and they split Bean’s passing touchdowns with three apiece.

Here are the best photos from the crazy Kansas victory.

Kansas pulls off huge comeback, stuns Indiana in 75-71 victory

The Kansas Jayhawks erased a 13-point deficit and secured a huge road victory over the Indiana Hoosiers behind 21 points from Kevin McCullar.

The Indiana Hoosiers led for the first 35 minutes on Saturday against the Kansas Jayhawks, including by as many as 13 points, but a late surge from Bill Self’s squad led to a massive 75-71 road victory.

Kevin McCullar finished with 21 points, including key free throws down the stretch, while Hunter Dickinson finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds in a familiar environment at Assembly Hall, having spent the past two years in the Big Ten at Michigan.

A triumphant performance from senior guard Trey Galloway, who had to step up in the absence of guard Xavier Johnson, nearly led the Hoosiers to a huge upset. Galloway had a career-high 31 points on 12-17 shooting, including multiple big shots at the end of the game.

Kansas took their first lead with 4:51 left in the game on a hook shot from Dickinson, which was followed quickly by a bucket from Malik Reneau to give Indiana back the lead – before Kansas point guard Dajuan Harris scored a few seconds later. That ended up being the story of the final few minutes before Kansas was able to extend the lead to multiple possessions, and then finish Indiana off at the charity stripe.

This was the first true road test for the Jayhawks, who are now 10-1 on the season with only a loss to Marquette in the Maui Invitational. Kansas hosts Yale out of the Ivy League on Friday, December 22, at 8:00 PM

Meanwhile Indiana drops to 7-3 on the year, although their losses are to UConn, Kansas, and Auburn. They’ll take on Morehead State on Tuesday at 6:30 ET on the Big Ten Network.

Kansas to hire Jeff Grimes as offensive coordinator

The two-time Broyles Award finalist spent the past three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Baylor.

The Kansas Jayhawks are set to hire Jeff Grimes as its offensive coordinator, according to reports from Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger and ESPN on Thursday.

Grimes, who spent the last three seasons as Baylor’s offensive coordinator before he was fired in late November, was a finalist for the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach in both 2020 with BYU and 2021 with Baylor.

Broyles’ BYU offense was third in the nation in scoring offense in 2020. He finished within the top 40 in the nation in scoring offense in both of his first two years with Baylor, but the Bears slid down to 98th in the country with just 23.1 points per game this season.

The Broyles move comes after former Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki took the same job with Penn State.

Kansas quarterback Jalen Daniels makes decision on 2024 season

What a boon for Coach Leipold and the Jayhawks for 2024.

The Kansas Jayhawks received quite a bump on Thursday and injured starting quarterback Jalen Daniels made a decision about his future in Lawrence. Kansas tweeted out that he will return to the Jayhawks for the 2024 season.

“Jayhawk Nation, I want to thank you for your support and well wishes as I battle back from injury,” Daniels stated in the message posted on X (formerly Twitter.) “Personally, it has been an incredibly difficult time being away from the game that I love and not being able to play with my brothers in front of our incredible fans on Saturdays. The adversity that I have faced this season will help me come back even stronger when the time is right. Kansas is a very special place to me, and I will be back next season to continue to move the program forward under Coach Leipold. Rock Chalk!”

Daniels appeared in just three games this season, completing 74.7% of his passes for 705 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also missed time during the 2022 season, only appearing in nine games. Jason Bean has filled in for both seasons and he will be moving on after the season.

The redshirt junior will give the Jayhawks a good chance in the new-look Big 12 next season when Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah enter the fray. Over his career which spans four seasons and 25 games, Daniels has thrown for 4,297 yards and 31 touchdowns while completing 63.6% of his pass attempts.

Provided that he is healthy in 2024, he should be a contender for comeback player of the year honors.

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold shoots down Michigan State speculation

“This going to be the last job that we have”

It is remarkable the job that Lance Leipold has done at Kansas. Since he took over the program, the Jayhawks have completely turned the program around. KU is currently 7-2 (4-2) through nine games this year and qualified for the postseason for the second straight year. That hasn’t happened since 2008.

As has been the case with any successful coach, speculation and rumors swirl about their future. Leipold was a coach, whose name was thrown about last year during the coaching carousel. The regular season will come to an end in three weeks as the carousel begins to spin once again.

Could Leipold be on the short list of names that Michigan State wants to replace Mel Tucker, who they fired earlier this season? The Kansas head coach addressed those rumors revolving around his meeting with the Spartans.

“This is the only interview [I’ve done today], and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

“The one thing that happens during this time of year is there’s a lot of speculation on things that are happening that are not accurate, as I’ve said for a long time, Travis Goff and Chancellor Girod have treated Kelly and I extremely well and our family.”

“It is our plan and expectation that we want to be here and this is going to be the last job we have.”

We have heard plenty of head coaches deny these rumors in the past, only to leave a week or two later. At this time, Leipold hasn’t given any reason to not take him at his word.

We will just have to wait and see.

Look: Best images from Kansas’ upset over No. 6 Oklahoma

What a crazy scene in Lawrence

The Kansas Jayhawks and Oklahoma Sooners were long-time rivals dating back to the 1920 season when the latter joined the Big Six, which eventually became the Big Eight.

With the Sooners leaving for the SEC after this season, this would likely be the last game between these two border-state rivals. The Jayhawks have lost 18 straight games in this series, so it was almost poetic to see Kansas beat Oklahoma on this Saturday afternoon.

The game took a little longer than expected due to the hour-long lightning delay when the game was just 14-7 in the first half. The Jayhawks built a 14-0 lead but Oklahoma regained the momentum and tied it up. They finished the first half with a 21-17 lead. However, it was the Jayhawks who would get the last laugh.

Kansas would outscore Oklahoma in the second half 21-12 but it would take a final defensive stand to determine this game. Dillon Gabriel had one more shot to win the game in comeback fashion as they did against the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry on Oct. 7. However, it wouldn’t be a storybook ending.

Kansas went full Tennesee on this day as the fans threw the goalposts into the lake.

Check out these images from the game.