It's Been a While
Time for a quick check-in to summarize the summer news and roster developments
For most college basketball programs, the summer is a chance for players to start training and practicing together. The main hope is to avoid injuries or any other negative news, and most of the noise around their programs is limited to the puff pieces about their players’ practice exploits or recruiting for future seasons. Both fortunately and unfortunately, Kansas' summer hasn’t had the same level of listlessness.
The Future of Bill Self
Within the last two weeks, the future of Kansas basketball shifted even closer to the next chapter when Bill Self was admitted to Lawrence Memorial Hospital to have two stents inserted into his heart. This is a continuation of the issues that began in 2023 and likely accelerates his timeline towards retirement. It’s been rumored that Cindy Self pushed Bill to consider retirement in 2023, but he felt like he hadn’t achieved everything that he needed to at that point. He’s had a calmer demeanor on sidelines in most games, but there’s no doubt that his competitive nature hasn’t been the most conducive to the lifestyle of someone recovering from heart surgeries. Self has earned the right to leave the sport at a time and manner of his choosing, and hopefully he makes the right decision for his life past coaching at Kansas.1
In an interview with Jon Rothstein two weeks ago, Self had the following to say about his future replacement:
“I hope we hire the best guy that gives Kansas the best chance to have the best basketball future moving forward. Would I love for that guy to be one of my guys? Absolutely. Or have ties to Kansas? Absolutely. In a perfect world, yes. They could have kept it in the family when Roy left. I don’t want to speak for others, but from my vantage point, it’s worked out decent.”
This interview indicates that Kansas doesn’t necessarily have the next coach of the program picked out at this point. At least not publicly.2
When the first health scare occurred before the 2023 NCAA Tournament, it prompted me to look into potential candidates for Self: both candidates with Kansas ties3 and also external options. While the list has shifted from that time (Jay Wright and Tony Bennett retired, Chris Beard and Nate Oats look like they had weaseled their way back to being potential candidates), there was one notable piece that changed in a positive way for the Kansas basketball program.
The Addition of Jacque Vaughn
Jacque Vaughn is one of the Kansas legends from the 1990’s Roy Williams teams that never managed to win a college national championship. After a twelve year career playing in the NBA, Vaughn immediately became an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs in 2010 before becoming the head coach of the Orlando Magic from 2012 until 2015. In 2016, he joined the Brooklyn Nets as an assistant coach before taking over as their head coach from 2022-2024. In all honesty, he got the short end of the stick after Kyrie Irving got injured and Kevin Durant requested a trade in the middle of the 2022-23 season. In the succession piece two years ago, I had Vaughn in the “Not Going to Happen” category. This is what I said about Vaughn:
Vaughn would and should be on everyone’s list if Self needs a replacement…If Kansas could somehow pull him back to the college game, it would feel like a major coup. Vaughn has the experience and presence to step in for Self and immediately provide validation that Kansas can maintain its level of excellence. While his record in the NBA may not show it, the fact that Vaughn has received two head coaching contracts in the NBA is an indication of how highly valued he is. Because of this, it’s unlikely Kansas could convince him to step into the world of recruiting and run a college program…Vaughn would meet the criteria of a Kansas-connected coach who has experience at a high level, but moving back to college seems like a step backwards from where he currently is. It would be a solid hire for Kansas but might not be the right move for him.
Vaughn’s situation in the NBA changed, and Kansas is benefitting from it. The addition of a former NBA coach as an assistant at a time where other schools across the country have seen boosts with NBA-connected coaches (BYU is the main example here, and they had to add Kevin Young from the Suns bench as a head coach) is nothing short of a major success. You have to give props to Travis Goff and Bill Self for being willing to go all-in on Vaughn in both salary and role. That role already sounds like it is paying dividends. Additionally, it provides a clear option for Kansas in a post-Self world if they choose to take it.
The Stylistic Renderings of Jacque Vaughn
The impact of having a coach on staff who has worked with elite NBA players cannot be overstated. Some of the early news coming out of summer practices indicates that Self is letting Vaughn impact drills for the guards and also the style that next year’s team might play.
Vaughn comes from the NBA where players are generally better at creating with the ball. With incoming freshman Darryn Peterson the center point of the offense next season, having a coach who understands how elite players want to create and what they need from teammates is critical. Peterson has shown an innate ability to create for both himself and teammates in high school, but Kansas will be a better team if they can manufacture touches and opportunities for him within the offense. This will be completely different than what Kansas has put on the court the last two seasons. While Dajuan Harris was a good point guard, he was never a consistent threat to score in those situations. Peterson provides a completely different dynamic to the offense, and Vaughn’s knowledge in working with elite players is only going to benefit this year’s team.4
Along with working with Peterson, Vaughn is also helping other players develop skills off-the-dribble with drills he has brought from his stints in the NBA. One of the major issues with the Kansas rosters the past two seasons was the inability for guards to create off the dribble. With the addition of newcomers like Jayden Dawson and Melvin Council Jr. plus the return of Elmarko Jackson from injury, Kansas has hopefully found a partial solution to the problem. Vaughn’s knowledge of skills that players at the highest level utilize will only help those players improve over the course of the season.
On the offensive end, it’s possible that the Kansas offense will change to include elements of NBA offenses. This will likely include attacking earlier in the shot clock with pick-and-roll sets happening later in the possession. This will mean more offensive possessions for both Kansas and their opponents and should provide enough shot attempts for everyone in the lineup. Expect to see Peterson as the main beneficiary of these early looks, but don’t be surprised if Tre White, Dawson, Council, and Jackson also get some additional opportunities with this adjustment.
Another piece of information that has filtered out from summer practices is that the team might occasionally apply defensive pressure after made baskets. The defense over the last two seasons has struggled to create turnovers from opponents.5 While pressure after made baskets doesn’t guarantee more turnovers, it at least creates more opportunities for them. Even token pressure after made baskets can affect the opponents, most commonly in one of two ways:
It speeds up opponents. For a team that looks built to play at a faster speed than we’ve seen the last two years, forcing opponents to match your tempo is one way to have success. Teams that get sped up are more prone to forcing passes and making mistakes. In other words, they’re more likely to commit turnovers. If a small change such as applying token pressure after made baskets pushes next year’s Kansas team closer to a top 100 team in defensive turnover rate, then the ceiling for the team raises significantly.
It can disrupt the opponent’s ability to set up their offense. If you had a chance to watch any of the Final Four games last season, one of the most noticeable takeaways was the difficulty offenses had in running their sets. Defensive pressure applied by Houston, Florida, and Duke all caused their opponents to begin possessions 5-10 feet behind the 3 point line. This limits shooting opportunities at the 3 point line, but it also forces longer passes giving the defense more time to recover from help positions. Kansas has not pressured heavily on the defensive end the last two seasons due to a lack of athleticism and depth. This year’s roster appears capable of playing high-pressure basketball for 40 minutes.
Whether this was a Self choice or a Vaughn addition, it should be a positive change and more aesthetically pleasing style for Kansas fans to watch this season.
The Roster Update
In April, I took a look at what the 2025-26 roster looked like for the upcoming year. At the end of the newsletter, I talked about three high-level potential additions that I felt would raise the ceiling of this year’s Kansas team. None of them ended up committing to Kansas. Instead Kansas added four less-hyped prospects to the roster for the upcoming season. Three of them have a chance to impact the rotation this year.
Kohl Rosario - Rosario was a late-riser in the recruiting process. After a strong spring and summer, Rosario reclassified back to his original class in order to commit to Kansas. Rosario is an athletic wing who is explosive towards the rim who has also shown the ability to hit shots from behind the arc. He will need to improve defensively and in his ability to create off the dribble, but he was obviously sold a role for the upcoming season in order to convince him to commit to Kansas. He provides depth at the wing and is set up to be a key contributor for the 2026-27 season if not this season.
Paul Mbiya - Mbiya was a late decommit from NC State. He slides in almost immediately at the backup center for the upcoming season. Mbiya is a 6’11, 240 lbs. freshman with a 7’8 wingspan who profiles as a rim-runner on the offensive end and a rim-protector on the defensive end. Mbiya played professionally in France, playing six games in the EuroLeague last season. While he is still raw on the offensive end of the court, it’s easy to see that Mbiya and Flory Bidunga have similar skillsets. This should allow them to be used interchangeably at times this season. Mbiya should slot into the role that Bidunga had last season, and there’s also potential for them to play alongside each other at times depending on Biduga’s development on both ends of the floor.
Nginyu Ngala - Ngala is the most recent addition to the roster, committing to Kansas last week. A transfer from Laurentine University in Canada, Ngala shot 39.2 percent from 3 on 153 attempts last season and averaging 14.8 points. While he only shot 76.3 percent from the free throw line last season, his career average in college is 85.2 percent. Self said that he expects Ngala to play as the backup point guard, which could give some indication to how he expects the lineup to shake out.6 It’s very possible that Ngala plays a similar role to what Diggy Coit played last season, averaging about 15 minutes a game with it fluctuating based on the game situation.
Corbin Allen - Allen is a three star prospect from Oak Hill High school in Kansas City (where Sherron Collins coaches) and was the Missouri state player of the year in 2025. That being said, barring a complete disaster, Allen won’t see any minutes this season. Prior to committing to Kansas, Allen was committed to the University of San Diego with Oklahoma State being his only Power Five scholarship offer noted. UMKC, Murray State, Lamar, SIU-Edwardsville, Ball State, and North Dakota State were other schools that offered Allen, which gives you an idea of the level of player most schools expect him to be. That being said, he does have some upside in the future as he develops. He just won’t provide any impact on the floor this season.
Media Expectations
For the first time in three years, Kansas isn’t the preseason number one. The historical numbers say this is a good thing. Kansas has never won a National Championship when they were a preseason number one team. That being said, they were a consensus preseason top five team in 2007-08 and 2021-22. If this team makes a run, they will look more like the 2011-12 team which came into the season ranked 13th. Most prognosticators have Kansas in the 15-20 range, which feels about right given the lack of a second proven go-to scorer (this is assuming Peterson is the first) and the roster improvements by other teams across the country.7
While I do think it’s fair, I also think that this Kansas team has a good chance to exceed expectations. They will probably struggle in the non-conference more than most Self-led teams, but it feels like a team that has room for significant improvement and the opportunity to gel as the season goes along. It sounds like there’s a more competitive and fun environment over this summer than there was the last couple of years. This can’t be put on one person, and the turnover of the roster, the turnover on the coaching staff, and the mentality of the incoming players all play a role in this.
The team will be challenged early with games against preseason Top 25 contenders North Carolina, Duke, Connecticut, and NC State. That doesn’t even include a potential top 25 matchup in the Player’s Era tournament if Kansas takes care of business against Notre Dame and Syracuse. Again, they will probably lose more in the non-conference portion of the season than some other Self teams have, but in the end, it feels like this team is going to play a style that has been successful for other schools with one notable difference: Darryn Peterson will be on the floor for the Jayhawks.8
Summary
While most programs would prefer a quiet summer, Kansas has had roster additions and another health scare for its longstanding coach. The hope is that Self can find a way to stay on as the head of the program while simultaneously limiting the amount of stress he’s putting on himself. Is that even possible? Maybe for a short amount of time. All indications prior to the health scare were that this summer had been an enjoyable one for both Self and the team. Over the last couple of summers, the expectations had weighed on the team and lessened the team-building aspect of the roster. It sounds like they didn’t have the same issues this summer.
As we get closer to the season, I’ll do my best to highlight some of what we might see from a style perspective and make more firm projections on the rotation impacts for each player. For now though, all we can hope is Self gives himself some time to truly recover and the players continue to develop. The expectations heading into the season might not be as high as the last two seasons from a national perspective, but I’m personally excited for what this roster has the potential to be.
To be clear, I want Self at Kansas for as long as possible. It doesn’t feel like Kansas basketball without Self at this point. That being said, it is just a sport and a game that provides entertainment. His time with his wife, kids, and future grandkids is more important.
And they shouldn’t. Travis Goff has done a tremendous job making hires for football, baseball, and volleyball over the last five years. Expecting him to do anything less than a full-blown national search for Bill Self’s replacement would be foolish.
I’m giving myself some major props for including Chase Buford on the “favorites” list. He’s now a staff member, and appears to be headed for a larger assistant role over the next few years.
Travis Goff gave an interview in July saying that every time he popped in towards the end of practice, Peterson and Vaughn were staying late to run drills that appeared to be stuff usually reserved for NBA players. Peterson’s success this year and in the NBA is a chance for Kansas to add an elite player to their
Kansas ranked 286th nationally with a defensive turnover rate of 15.6 percent in 2024-25 and 207th nationally with a defensive turnover rate of 16.5 percent in 2023-24.
In this case, it would seem that Elmarko Jackson would be taking the role as the point guard with Peterson also being a secondary option when they are on the floor together.
Most of us will agree that Bidunga stands out as the obvious second option on the offensive end at this point. That being said, I personally feel like Tre White and Melvin Council have the opportunity to be the second leading scorer on this year’s team. Both have upside based on their previous experience and success that seem to point to a chance at a significant leap.
In the same interview with Rothstein, Self said he hasn’t had a freshman come in with the ability to put the team on their back in the same way Peterson can. “Darryn needs to be the guy. If he’s that guy, he’ll put up numbers as good as anyone we’ve had here.”