Flory Bidunga picks KU over Auburn in transfer portal. Inside his decision to stay
He’s back.
After entering the transfer portal on March 29, Kansas big man Flory Bidunga is returning to the Jayhawks, Bidunga said in a phone interview with The Star on Sunday.
Bidunga picked KU over Auburn and others. Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self now has five open roster spots.
“I want to finish what I started,” Bidunga said in a brief phone interview. “I had a talk with the coaches. Next year will be different, for sure.”
Kansas fans are certainly celebrating Bidunga’s return. The freshman big man averaged 5.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game during the 2024-25 season for a KU team that finished 21-13.
The Star reported on Friday that Bidunga’s decision could come soon. Incoming five-star freshman Darryn Peterson even mentioned Bidunga as the player whom he’d most like to play alongside.
Of being a teammate with Peterson, Bidunga said Sunday, “Obviously I’ve talked to him and I’m excited to play with him, as well. I’m excited for a new season, to meet my new teammates, make it exciting for them, as well.”
Bidunga noted that he’s “been thinking about it a long time, praying about it, getting a new fresh start.”
He said he made up his mind “a day or two ago. I was excited to talk with Coach (Self). He said he wanted me back. Of course he was really excited.”
Bidunga was primarily a backup center for the Jayhawks this past season, but he played well in the few games he started during KJ Adams’ absence. When he entered the portal, many feared he was gone, but his guardian had told The Star a return to Kansas was possible.
“Flory will enter the portal with intentions to return to Kansas,” the guardian, Dillon Craft, said in a text message to The Star last Saturday. “After discussing this as a family, we have decided this is the best decision for Flory’s future. We will evaluate our options and are open to a return to Kansas.”
The Star spoke to Craft later that Saturday afternoon. He insisted reports of Bidunga entering the portal to shop NIL deals were false but acknowledged the greater importance of NIL to a student-athlete.
“NIL is important from an investment standpoint, and it means something,” Craft said. “It means that the school that pays you, they’re going to invest in you and make you a priority because they’re spending that money. It’s no different than the NBA and free agency — they’re going to pay somebody $80 million because they know that they’re a priority and they’re going to help their team win.”
Craft told The Star that playing time wasn’t a factor in why Bidunga entered the transfer portal, but rather a big part of KU’s roster having a “lot of unknowns.”
Self met with Bidunga and his camp last Sunday. That meeting apparently went well.
Ultimately, Bidunga wants to improve his game as he pursues his NBA aspirations. He told The Star last summer that he’s working on his jump shot.
Craft echoed that sentiment in his communications with The Star.
“We truly have to get him to expand his game,” he said. “Obviously, everybody wants to go to the NBA sooner rather than later, but we still don’t have a time for him. Is it next year? Is it two years? I don’t know, but right now, we’ve got to really hit it. We’ve really got to get developed because he’s young. He’s only been playing basketball for four years and the time is now. Not that it wasn’t before.”
Bidunga was a five-star prospect, ranked No. 14 by 247Sports and No. 17 by ESPN, in the recruiting class of 2024. He was the highest-rated pledge in KU’s 2024 recruiting class and finished as the Jayhawks’ highest-rated freshman signee since Quentin Grimes in 2018.
In his senior season at Kokomo (Indiana) High School, he averaged 19.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and 3.2 assists per game and led his school to a 25-4 record and 4A sectional title.
Bidunga was also selected as the 2024 IndyStar Mr. Basketball in the state of Indiana. He also picked Kansas over Auburn when he was coming out of high school.
The Star’s Gary Bedore contributed reporting.
This story was originally published April 6, 2025 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Flory Bidunga picks KU over Auburn in transfer portal. Inside his decision to stay."
