How one meeting with KU hoops coach Bill Self convinced Taylen Kinney to pick KU
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- The day after meeting Bill Self, Kinney decided he wanted to commit to Kansas.
- Kinney said he aims for a 60/40/90 shooting season and is improving his shot and strength.
- KU coaches want Kinney to improve his jumper and develop as a team leader.
Incoming Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball player Taylen Kinney has lofty goals for his freshman season in 2026-27.
“I’m trying to shoot 50/40/90,” Kinney told The Star. “Really, 60/40/90.”
That’s a high mark in hoops: 50/40/90 refers to shooting at least 50% from the field, 40% from deep and 90% from the free-throw line in a given season.
But Kinney is doing everything in his power to get ready for the college game. He aspires to become a one-and-done prospect. Some NBA scouts view him in that vein but want to see how the season unfolds.
“I’m really working on everything; getting my jump shot better,” Kinney said. “A lot of people I can’t shoot. I’m working on my pace. I’m getting stronger in the weight room a lot more.”
To Kinney’s point, he had an up-and-down recent season of shooting for RWE of Overtime Elite. He was 45.7% on 3-pointers on 9.2 attempts per game in the playoffs, but 26.9% on 4.9 attempts in the regular season.
Kinney has a close relationship with KU associate head coach Jeremy Case, who has worked with him on his shooting form.
“When I was down there (Lawrence) working out, he was just telling me things to work on like little mechanics and my jump shot and stuff, fixing that,” Kinney said. “Just coming here being prepared, falling in love with the work and staying in the gym.”
Kinney, listed at 6-foot-1, believes that he’s also gotten taller: “A lot of people say I am 6-3, 6-4 now.”
To hear Kinney tell it, he didn’t anticipate choosing KU.
“To be honest, me coming on that visit like before that, I had no intention of coming to Kansas,” he said. “I just wanted to see what they got and see what they got going on, see what the plan was for me and stuff.
“I wasn’t really talking to them as much as we were talking to other schools. We still scheduled a visit because, I mean, it’s Bill Self — a great coach. And when they hired Jacque Vaughn, that was a good hire.
“They had Jeremy Case already. It was a good coaching staff at the time. So then, when I went on my visit, literally the day after I had the meeting with Coach Self, I was like with my mom in a room and was like, ‘I want to commit right now.’”
Kinney noted that he loved how real Self was with him. KU coaches showed Kinney film of his game that highlighted both strengths and areas in need of improvement.
What Self wanted him to work comprises a lot of what Kinney is focusing on at the moment. Self wanted Kinney to improve his jumper and become a better leader. Kinney told The Star that his biggest weakness is leadership — and that this is something he’s trying to improve.
Kinney hopes he and his close friend and recent KU signee Tyran Stokes can leave a mark in Lawrence. Since winning an NCAA title in 2022, Kansas hasn’t made it past the first weekend of the tournament.
Kinney wants to help change that.
“We want to win so bad,” he said. “I think we will do whatever it takes to get past that first (weekend). Our goal is a national championship. We don’t have anything else in mind than winning a national championship.”
This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How one meeting with KU hoops coach Bill Self convinced Taylen Kinney to pick KU."
