Bill Self offers early assessment of 2020-21 Jayhawks. The outlook is optimistic.
The thought of coaching the 2020-21 Kansas basketball team is as appetizing to 18th-year KU coach Bill Self as a dinner of filet mignon, corn on the cob, Texas cheese toast and green beans.
“I actually think we can be better offensively. I think we’ll score easier from all five spots than we did last year,” Self said Friday. He spoke in depth about the players on this year’s KU squad while devouring the above-mentioned menu that Self grilled for assistant coaches Norm Roberts and Jerrance Howard in the back yard of Self’s West Lawrence home.
The 30-minute chat made for an informative of “Grill With Bill,” which is featured on kuathletics.com. KU assistant Kurtis Townsend was last week’s inaugural guest, dining on Self’s grilled wings.
Dinner conversation Friday began with a discussion of KU’s group of tall perimeter players.
“If you take Latrell (Jossell, 5-11 freshman) out of the mix because he’s young and probably a little bit behind our veteran guys and Dajuan (Harris, 6-1 redshirt freshman) who obviously has got to play because he’s too good to not play, everybody is 6-5 or bigger across the board,” Self stated.
“Marcus (Garrett) is 6-5. Bryce (Thompson) is 6-5. Ochai (Agbaji) is 6-5. C.B (Christian Braun) is 6-7. Tristan (Enaruna) is 6-7. Jalen (Wilson) is 6-7. Tyon (Grant-Foster) is 6-6. There’s seven guys all interchangeable (who) could be on the floor a lot,” Self added.
The perimeter players will be mixed and matched with bigs David McCormack (6-10), Silvio De Sousa (6-9), Mitch Lightfoot (6-8) and Gethro Muscadin (6-10).
“A big key is can David, Silvio and Mitch switch late-clock like Doke (Azubuike) did? If we can do that, I think defensively there’s no reason we can’t be pretty darn good again,” Self said to his assistants.
The Jayhawks, who will gather for the start of Self’s two-week Boot Camp conditioning program early Monday morning, have been practicing up to four hours a week with coaches and lifting weights four hours a week in Lawrence since Aug. 2. First day of preseason practice is Oct. 14.
In a two-month span, Self has learned a lot about his team. There are high hopes for McCormack, who carries 265 pounds on a 6-10 frame.
“He has had a great summer,” Self said. “If we can get our big guys, primarily Dave, to defend even though he won’t be a rim protector as much as Doke (Azubuike) but a paint protector … David has the abilities to do that,” Self said.
Newcomer Muscadin, a 6-10 freshman from Haiti, could either contribute to the big-man mix or conceivably redshirt if the squad remains healthy.
“Gethro without question is our most improved player (since reporting on Aug. 2),” Self said. “Hey, that first day, it was like, ‘Oh, that’s the rawest kid we’ve recruited.’ But he’s got bounce. He can run, and he wants to attack that ball. He attacks the ball probably better than anybody on our team.”
Other newcomers are Thompson, Grant-Foster and Jossell.
“Latrell has been a pleasant surprise without question because he can shoot. He’s fast,” Self said of the Chicago native, who played basketball in Texas last season. “Tyon, bless his heart has had the hardest first month of everybody. He’s nicked up,” Self added of the former Indian Hills Community College and Schlagle High standout who has been slowed by an ankle injury.
“He’s not healthy. He’s trying out there. I love his attitude,” he added of Grant-Foster. “We have to make sure we let him know it’s OK. We’re not going to win any games in August and September, but you’ve got to get healthy. He’s had great spurts, shown flashes. If you think you are 80% or 90% going against somebody comparable who is 100% you are going to get your butt handed to you. He’s not 100%.”
Self was comfortable chatting with his coaches about other Jayhawk players, too.
“Silvio (senior from Angola) is much improved. Jalen has been as impressive as anybody so far,” he added of Denton, Texas native Wilson who redshirted because of injury last season.
“I think Tristan looks good,” he noted of Netherlands native Enaruna. “I think Christian Braun (BV Northwest graduate) looks good. Dajuan being here last year helped him,” he noted of the Columbia, Missouri native who redshirted as a freshman.
“Of course Marcus has been good,” Self said of Garrett, college basketball’s reigning defensive player of the year. “Ochai (junior from Oak Park High) has been a little bit up and down, but I think some of that is shooting the ball. When he shoots the basketball … he’s such a better shooter this year than last year. But if he doesn’t make shots I do think it affects him, his aggressiveness.”
Self said team chemistry appears great.
“I could not be more impressed at this early stage how mature they are,” Self said. “I talked to Doc Sadler (Southern Mississippi coach) today. He said, ‘Our guys’ attitudes are great, too.’ I wonder if the attitudes are great because we haven’t seen them all summer (players returned to their hometowns March 12 until Aug. 2 because of coronavirus pandemic). I wonder if our performance will be better late in the season because we’ll be fresher because we weren’t here this summer,” Self added.
Self said of course the Jayhawks will miss Azubuike, Devon Dotson and Isaiah Moss from last year’s 28-3 Big 12 title team — one that would have entered the NCAA Tournament as the overall No. 1 seed had the tourney not been canceled.
“Last year everybody knew it was Dot and Doke’s team,” Self said. “The year before everybody kind of had a feeling it would be Doke and Dedric’s (Lawson) team. Doke goes down. That team could have been a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament if Doke hadn’t gotten hurt. The year before, going in the season everybody knew it was Devonté (Graham) and Svi’s (Mykhailiuk) team. The year before everybody knew it was Frank (Mason) and Josh’s (Jackson) team and Devonté’s. This year what do we know? We know one thing for sure,” he continued of Garrett being a leader.
“How many times have we had where your best player potentially could average 10 or 11 points a game, although I think he’ll average more,” Self said of senior point guard Garrett. “I think the leadership David, Marcus, Och, Mitch, a lot of the guys have shown has been terrific so far.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Bill Self offers early assessment of 2020-21 Jayhawks. The outlook is optimistic.."
