How Bill Self pitched transfer guard Jayden Dawson — and why he accepted so fast
Jayden Dawson, whose Loyola Ramblers lost to Chattanooga 80-73 on Tuesday in the semifinals of the NIT, entered the NCAA transfer portal on Wednesday and by Friday was a member of the 2025-26 Kansas basketball team.
Though the 6-foot-4, 195-pound junior combo guard from Omaha, Nebraska, had interest from Texas Tech, Nebraska, Creighton and others, he was quick to accept KU coach Bill Self’s scholarship offer just a day after Thursday’s Zoom call with members of the Jayhawks’ coaching staff.
“Kansas called early. Coach (Bill Self) was the first to call. I felt an early connection with him,” said Dawson, who scored 19 points with six assists and no turnovers versus Chattanooga, just one week after exploding for a career-high 35 points on 14-of-27 shooting (4-of-11 from 3) in a 77-76 NIT second-round victory at San Francisco. Loyola finished the season with a 25-12 record.
“For me, my dream is to get to the next level and be a pro player for my position. I’m trying to showcase I can be more a combo guard, more on the ball. I’ve shown a lot off the ball coming off handoffs (in hitting 86 of 237 3s for 36.3% this past season). What Coach presented to me goes hand-in-hand what I’m trying to do,” added Dawson.
For the year, he hit 150 of 366 shots for 41.0% and earned second-team all-Atlantic 10 honors.
Dawson — yes he played football as a youth in Nebraska before ultimately specializing in basketball — said in a phone interview with The Star he felt “blessed and grateful” to field a phone call from KU coach Self so soon after entering the portal.
He’s been to Lawrence during his days as a Nebraska Supreme AAU basketball player, thus saw no need to make a campus visit prior to quickly accepting the KU offer.
“To have a Hall of Fame coach let me know how much he wants me, it definitely felt great in that moment,” said Dawson. “Being from Omaha, even if I wasn’t from Omaha, everybody knows Kansas is an elite program. Coach Self has a great history at Kansas himself.
“He said he wants me more as a combo guard. I think I’m a great shooter. I think I’ve displayed that as well as a mid-range game. I showed I can get downhill (he hit 59 of 80 free throws in 32 games played in 2024-25 for 73.8%). I want to show I can be more of an on-ball type coming off ball screens,” he added.
Dawson, who has one year of college eligibility remaining, said he is looking forward to being in the same backcourt as incoming McDonald’s All-American Darryn Peterson.
“That was one of his (Self’s) first pitches, that they’ve got D.P. there,” Dawson said. “Obviously everybody knows D.P. is projected No. 1 pick (in 2026 NBA Draft). He (Self) told me he thinks our games complement each other well. Him being on the team … there will be NBA GMs and scouts at practices and games. He’ll be putting even more attention on the program.”
Dawson said he realizes Self is demanding about defense, too.
“I would say I’m good at defense,” Dawson told The Star. “I come from Loyola, which is a defense-oriented program. I like to take it personal on the defensive end. I think I’m a good on-ball defender.”
However, he acknowledged, “I think if you ask anybody they’ll say the best part of my game is my shooting. I had a good year shooting off the dribble. I (also) like to shoot off the catch and will continue to work on that.”
Dawson, who said he will make a campus visit to KU sometime before semester ends, said he doesn’t personally know anybody on KU’s team.
“I know a lot about Zeke (Mayo). He’s from Kansas obviously,” Dawson said of Mayo, who has no eligibility remaining. “He played for (KC) Run GMC growing up. I saw him a lot. I know he’s a great player. He’s the only one I know.”
Dawson said he realizes KU has just started signing players in the portal. He’s first of what could be many roster additions.
At this time, KU has Dawson, Peterson, Samis Calderon, Bryson Tiller, Noah Shelby, Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell on the 2024-25 roster. Shelby was a walk-on who redshirted this past season after transferring from Rice. KU can have 14 scholarship players on the team (most teams have 15) as it completes its self-imposed penalty of reducing its scholarship total by three over a three-year period.
“I’m sure people don’t know too much about me. I’m looking forward to getting there (to) show what I can do. Everything is earned,” Dawson said. “I have to earn my spot, show Coach I could be a starter.”
Dawson scored 19 or more points eight times this past season. He scored 26 points against St. Louis and 24 versus Davidson and Richmond. He knocked down six 3s against Richmond and St. Louis and made five 3s in four different games.
He averaged 7.9 points his sophomore season and 3.6 ppg in 14 games in an injury-plagued freshman campaign at Loyola.
During his senior season at Omaha Central High School, Dawson, who has a 6-foot-8 wingspan, averaged 17.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per outing and was a first team Class A all-state selection. He scored over 1,000 points in his prep career. He had 24 points in the Omaha metro all-star game.
As a junior he helped Omaha Central to a 20-6 record while averaging 14.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, a big jump from his 6.2 points per game average as a sophomore.
Loyola coach Drew Valentine had this to say after Dawson’s 35-point outing against San Francisco, a game in which USF’s Malik Thomas countered with 36 points: “Those were two of the most epic performances by Dawson and Thomas that I’ve ever been a part of. Shot making on both ends was just ridiculous. JD had a look in his eye today. He was totally locked in, and it was incredible to watch.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 8:36 PM with the headline "How Bill Self pitched transfer guard Jayden Dawson — and why he accepted so fast."
