***** Official '24/'25 KU Men's Basketball Repository Thread *****

[cmh6476]

The Team:

https://kuathletics.com/sports/mbball/roster/

The Schedule:

https://kuathletics.com/sports/mbball/schedule/

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Zeke

Love it. Shot maker.

[smithandrew051]

If we do land McNeely and Furphy stays, we’ll have the ability to play 4 guards around Bidunga (if Dickinson leaves).

[Kiimo]

BOOM so much for that Oklahoma visit

A homecoming like no other. Lawrence, KS, let’s rock. ��❤️ #committed pic.twitter.com/Y4WkpUOO32

— Zeke Mayo (@zekexmayo) April 2, 2024

[PHOG]

Nice!

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Kiimo

BOOM so much for that Oklahoma visit

A homecoming like no other. Lawrence, KS, let’s rock. ��❤️ #committed pic.twitter.com/Y4WkpUOO32

— Zeke Mayo (@zekexmayo) April 2, 2024

Exciting! A real Jayhawk. Has to mean something. He is a pretty good shooter. Hometown hero.

[KC_Connection]

Bronny into the portal, do it Bill

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

If we do land McNeely and Furphy stays, we’ll have the ability to play 4 guards around Bidunga (if Dickinson leaves).

Now if we can get Big Dick, The Furph and McNeeley we can be going places. Furphy and McNeeley shouldnt be afraid of each other. They would feed off each other and give eaxh other the spacing needed.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Bronny into the portal, do it Bill

He already transferred to Penn State

[DJay23]

Originally Posted by BWillie

He already transferred to Penn State

I guess it won't be as easy for me to walk up to the ticket window at Bryce Jordan Center and get seats on the floor anymore.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Now if we can get Big Dick, The Furph and McNeeley we can be going places. Furphy and McNeeley shouldnt be afraid of each other. They would feed off each other and give eaxh other the spacing needed.

Land McNeely. Keep Furphy and Dick. Get one more bench big like a Braun type but hopefully better.

Guards/Wings:

Harris
Mayo
Kugel
Furphy
McNeeley
Passmore
Philon

Bigs:
Dickinson
Bidunga
Adams
Transfer?

[cmh6476]

I don't think we are lucky enough to basically keep everyone but I appreciate everyone's wishful thinking.

[BWillie]

Did anyone watch the McD's All-American game? Heard Bidunga looked pretty raw. Would be quite a reach to rely on him for big minutes next year. Sounds like his camp even knows he's a project so Hunter and KJ staying may not be a big deal and he can move into Dickinson's role his sophomore year and dominate.

Really hyped on Zeke Mayo, way more than Kugel. Wish Kugel could give Mayo his athleticism but Mayo can still get buckets.

[ROYC75]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Did anyone watch the McD's All-American game? Heard Bidunga looked pretty raw. Would be quite a reach to rely on him for big minutes next year. Sounds like his camp even knows he's a project so Hunter and KJ staying may not be a big deal and he can move into Dickinson's role his sophomore year and dominate.

Really hyped on Zeke Mayo, way more than Kugel. Wish Kugel could give Mayo his athleticism but Mayo can still get buckets.

I watched it, he ( Bidunga )is raw, strickly a role player next year.

[SithCeNtZ]

Originally Posted by ROYC75

I watched it, he ( Bidunga )is raw, strickly a role player next year.

I live close to where he plays so I've seen about 20 or so of his games, so I'll offer my thoughts. Obviously these come with the caveat that it's tough to translate how his game vs dudes who might be selling copiers in 5 years is in comparison to high major talent.

On offense: on the plus side, you won't find many big guys who like to dunk as much as him. If he's close, he's trying to put you on a poster. He has the state record for dunks in a game, and before you laugh, this is Indiana high school basketball where major prospects come out all the time. Having any record over guys like Zach Randolph and Greg Oden is impressive. He is skinny, but people have to think of him as Embiid rather than Doke. His game is based on speed, not backing dudes down like Hunter. He does well sealing his guy off not by power, but by beating his guy to the block. He isn't a very good ft shooter, clocking in at 60%, but that is improved significantly from two years ago when he shot below 50%.
But here is where I would hesitate to say he will be just a role player: his jump shot is actually pretty decent? He has a nice little 5-7 ft jumper from the baseline that goes in more often than not(he shot 81% from the field. Not a typo 81). And you watch in warmups and see clips from his practice he is a pretty competent 3 point shooter. He clearly practices them all the time. But obviously when you can just dunk on everyone they aren't exactly running plays for you to jack 3s all game. So he took 5 all year, making one. If he can shoot more jump shots than he did in HS, he very well might press KJ to start.

On defense: it's always tough to tell how this translates, but in HS he is an elite shot blocker. He does really well avoiding contact and is not foul prone. You saw it last night when he swatted Queen trying to back him down. He also rebounds very well, but that isn't surprising given the competition. I would probably say he's a better rebounder right now than KJ because the bar is so low there. His quickness helps him on the perimeter on screens, where he can switch and contest pretty well(at least against high school guards).

Overall, I think he has a wide range of outcomes. It wouldn't shock me if he comes along during the season and by the first tournament game he is starting at the four. If he can do anything with his jump shot, he could be Embiid - lite. Of course, he could also foul a bunch trying to block everything under the sun, struggle to shoot, and be more of a high energy dunks only use the fouls because we don't care if you block it or not guy playing 10 mins a game like Lightfoot. Nothing would surprise me at this point, but I wouldn't peg him as a pure role player just yet. There's definitely a chance he's more than that.

[KC_Connection]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...due-us-nil-law

The inability of Furphy to make NIL money in the USA (see Edey situation above) is another thing that will push him to leave.