TRANSFER PORTAL & OTHER RECRUITING FOR KANSAS UPDATED 2023-06-20 2:00 PM CT

Ok, I am sure that I am in the minority here but I would rather keep Ernie than snag Dickinson. Udeh showed some serious sparks of being a monster player. How many bigs can run with the ball like we saw him do more than once? In the right program, he's going to be a game changer. I am not recognizing our team. Winning is one thing but there is something to be said about watching a player develop instead of just buying talent.

Wow this one does hurt and is a bit of a head scratcher. Is it just the times we are in with NIL and portal and all or is something up in Jayhawkville? We had 11 of 13 players leaving, 8 by portal. And Jalen, Gradey and Kevin could have returned by rule. I am inclined to chalk it up to the portal and NIL where a bench sitter at Kansas could certainly be starting somewhere else and also likely earning more NIL. We pretty desperately need Mgbako to commit. We will still be good but that changes the dynamic of the team with KJ now having to be backup at the 5. I am guessing the Udeh decision was a shocker to Self. We’ll see where he lands but this one seems like an ill-advised decision. He was really in a good position to improve and get more PT.

I have no idea where this NIL and portal thing is going, but I sure hope we’re not the portal program like KY is the one and done program.

I’m way more excited to see Udeh over the next couple years than I am Dickinson and whoever else transfers in.

I’m withholding final judgment, but I’m not liking where Self is going right now with the portal. Recruit better up front rather than dumping 8-9 guys to portal then taking 10 new guys.

I don’t think this one was to Self’s liking. We now see that the portal is a double edged sword. The current status of NIL and free agency (Curt Flood would be amazed) is probably becoming a massive headache for most coaches. In the case of Udeh, as in other cases, I think these kids have “handlers” who are looking at both NIL money and then the quickest route to the NBA- that is Playing Time NOW, get max exposure to show potential and get drafted based on that. Forget developing your game at a college you actually care about for 3 or 4 years. I, as most of you, was really looking forward to watching this player develop over another year or two and am bummed he has left. If KM comes back I’ll feel better, if he does not, and if KJA should leave- I’m OUT!

What a roller coaster ride this off season has been. First we have the expected announcement that Gradey is staying in the draft. I think we all sort of expected that. And of course, Jalen made it clear all along that he was gone. And then Kevin announced he was entering the draft and all but said that was final. Then we had the sort of expected mass exodus of Bobby, MJ. And Yesufu. I think at that point we were all saying okay, we can live with this as long as Self lands some solid replacements in the portal. Then we landed Timberlake. Not an earth shaking event but it ticked up the optimism to have a likely very good shooter on board. Then we learned that the big prize was considering Kansas in Hunter Dickinson. Meanwhile several other players were also considering Kansas but the Dickinson watch was consuming all the air in the room. If we landed Dickinson we were immediately a contender. Then Spears chose FSU and Mgbako entered the equation. We were hearing rumblings that Mgbako had all but chosen Kansas and was just going through the motions. Then Ejiofor announced he was transferring. That was a little alarming. What if Dickinson chose not to come? But Dickinson announced that KU was his choice and we were all relieved. We had a pretty good roster, albeit, the bench was looking decidedly freshmanish. But Mgbako was still lurking. When Cuffe announced that was not a huge issue since he was likely to be down the pecking order and replaceable. But it is still a little distasteful to have so many transferring out. It was getting a little ugly at that point. Then the real shocker with Udeh entering. I don’t think anyone expected this. We will never know if this was a good move for him. Certainly he had a bright future in the crimson and blue. But you could sort of understand what his mindset as. Right in that time frame Arteriosclerótico Morris announced KU. That was a accompanied by less fanfare because of the off court published issues he had. While I think there was some excitement it was definitely tempered. But we still had Mgbako coming or so we Mgbako announces for Indiana. All of the sudden, KU is well into May with 9 scholarship player, 4 of those being freshmen. Our bench is now likely 100% freshmen, that is not necessarily bad but it is not the usual prototype of a title contender. Granted, our projected starting 5 is looking nice. Quite strong in fact. But we all know that injuries are an increasingly common part of college basketball. Our depth has evaporated. 2 significant injuries and we become very average very fast. But now we hear that McCullar is maybe just maybe possibly considering returning. But we still have 2 slots available (actually 3 but our self-imposed limit is 12). And the availability in the portal for big men is not wowing and can we sell someone to come to KU and back up Dickinson who is likely to play 30+ minutes per game? We have been super high and pretty low on this roller coaster. There were moments where we thought we may end up being a strong favorite to win it all. Right now we are hoping to fill some holes that could keep us from being fairly mediocre. Kong expressed his sentiments that this may be it for him. I am not yet there but I can see that place from where we are. I am still enthused and always looking forward to the season. But I have a collection of bad vibes and bad flavors mixed in with that enthusiasm. I fear that gone are the days of senior night when we celebrate young men who have shared our passion for our university. An average of 5 players per team hit the portal. And if you assume 3 players per team are graduating, that means over half of every roster is turned over every year from here on out. In our case 11 of 13 are gone. Not a single member of the last two recruiting classes are on the roster. I guess like so much of life, we have to adapt or choose to step out of the arena. That is sort of life in these days and times.

Is it possible for someone to enter the portal yet re sign with their original school?

My fear with Ernie is that he WILL pick an in conference school and he will kick our butts for the next 2 years. I REALLY wanted him to be OUR buttkicker, not the other way around.

Read a couple articles that Kentucky and Duke are talking to our guys. How do we lose guys that are that level of talent. Disappointing.