No. 1 Kansas could soon be back to a complete roster when UNC Wilmington visits the Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan., on Tuesday night.
The Jayhawks (4-0) welcomed Shakeel Moore for his first five minutes in KU colors on Saturday in a win over Oakland. The Mississippi State transfer guard had two rebounds, an assist and two points in the win and provided coach Bill Self with the first glimpse of his desired nine-player rotation.
“Shaq’s not quite whole — he had a five-minute limit on him but I wanted to get him out there,” said Self. “But by hopefully next week he could be close to that. I do think there’s a core nine we can put out there, be interchangeable.”
Kansas used all 15 players on the roster against Oakland. Self admits he used too many, but it’s an effort to build out a roster to keep the top-ranked team in the country ready for upcoming nonconference games against big-name foes such as Duke, Creighton and NC State.
First the Jayhawks get another tuneup on Tuesday against the Seahawks (3-0), who head to Kansas after winning their third game to start the season, an 89-85 win against USC Upstate. In that game, Donovan Newby led the offense for the Seahawks, scoring 20 points. He averages a team-leading 22.7 points per game.
“Donovan does so much for us,” said head coach Tayako Siddle. “He’s a calming presence for us. He gets us into our offense, he ignites our fast break, he does so many things for us. He’s an extension of me on the court.”
Newby leads a team that stresses offense by committee. While the guard averages nine more points per game than the next closest Seahawk, 10 of UNCW’s players average at least seven points per game, with four averaging double-digits.
“The makeup of our group is we could have four or five guys in double figures, averaging double figures, and you know we can have some other guys three to more guys right around seven, eight, points,” said Siddle. “And that’s exactly how I want it to be. We’ll be as successful as the whole unit.”
Wilmington has their work cut out against Kansas, who have 21- and 30-point wins against non-Power Five conference schools to start the season. Leading Kansas is Hunter Dickinson, the two-time All-American averaging a near double-double with 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
Against Michigan State on Nov. 12, the 7-foot-1 center who transferred before last season from Michigan scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the win over the former Big Ten rival Spartans. The win was the 591st at Kansas for Self in 22 seasons, surpassing legendary Phog Allen’s record of 590.
Self is keeping Kansas at the top of future-centric rankings, too.
On Saturday, Self and the Jayhawks signed Bryson Tiller, the latest commitment in a class loaded with top-ranked talent.
“It’s a good class. I think we signed three pros,” said Self. “Bryson is ultra-talented. He would be a top five, top seven, kid in the class if he hadn’t got hurt. He’s talented man. He’s 6-10 and can play anywhere on the floor. It’s going to be a fun group.”
–Field Level Media
