KU Jayhawks’ coach Bill Self discusses health of his team as summer drills begin
Third-year Kansas sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson, who tore the patellar tendon in his left knee during a Bill Self basketball camp scrimmage on June 4, 2024, participated full-go in the Jayhawks’ first official practice of the summer session.
The practice took place on Monday morning. KU’s summer session runs until July 25.
“Elmarko is healthy. He’s not 100% as far as rhythm, but he’ll make a big jump (this year),” Self, KU’s 23rd-year hoops coach, said Monday.
Self spoke later Monday at the annual Otto Schnellbacher Golf Classic, sponsored by the Topeka Jayhawk Club and contested at GreatLIFE at Shawnee Country Club in Kansas’ capital city.
Just one player on KU’s current roster of 14 (including four walk-ons) was unable to practice Monday. The walk-ons are waiting to see if they’ll be “grandfathered in” to stay with the program following an upcoming New York judge’s ruling on roster sizes.
Bryson Tiller, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound redshirt freshman from the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta, took part in a light workout on the side. Tiller had surgery on his left ankle last March.
“Bryson has been cleared to resume basketball activity, but probably won’t be 100% full speed until close to July 1,” Self said of Tiller, who arrived on KU’s campus as a member of the recruiting class of 2024 last January but was unable to practice because of a foot injury sustained in high school.
Self has big plans for Tiller this upcoming season.
“You have Bryson Tiller … he’s going to be a pro,” the coach said during his five-minute talk with participants at the Topeka golf tourney.
Tiller is one of four scholarship returnees from last season’s roster along with Jackson, Flory Bidunga and Jamari McDowell.
“They were probably the two best leaders we had last year,” Self said of Jackson and McDowell, who also redshirted a year ago. McDowell is a 6-4 sophomore guard from Houston; Jackson, 6-3, hails from Marlton, New Jersey.
“They did it (lead) in a way they didn’t even play,” Self said. “So when I say leaders, I’m talking about not just on the court, I’m talking about in the dormitory, our culture, the way that we try to live it. I think that those two probably have the best leadership qualities of all the returning guys. They’re both much improved. Jamari has made huge improvements.”
Of Bidunga, a 6-9 sophomore from Democratic Republic of Congo, Self said: “The one that probably needs to take the biggest step is Flory and I think Flory had a good spring without question. He’ll be bigger, better than ever.”
KU’s three incoming transfers — Tre White (6-7 senior, Illinois), Melvin Council Jr. (6-4 senior, St. Bonaventure) and Jayden Dawson (6-4 senior, Loyola Chicago) — have reported to campus and practiced Monday.
“The three guys we got out of the portal to me fit us perfectly,” Self said, noting he’d like to add to his recruiting class in coming days.
Self said the Jayhawks are still recruiting international players.
“I still think there’s an opportunity to recruit a big to give us more depth and then a guard who can really shoot,” Self said. “We know what we need, and we’re still actively recruiting a couple of kids.
“There are still some some opportunities available for us to do so, primarily internationally. I feel like with the international kids, it’s been a little bit slower in developing, because I think there’s still some options that they have to decide on, and they’re given more time to decide what they want to do, more so than what the American kids are.”
Freshman guards Darryn Peterson, Samis Calderon and Corbin Allen also practiced Monday.
Of Peterson, ESPN.com’s No. 2 rated player nationally and 2025 Naismith High School Player of the Year, Self told the Topeka golfers: “He’s a generational type talent. So I’m excited about it (him being on campus). But what impresses me as much about him as anything, is that he wants to be a player, and he’ll be your hardest worker, and all the things that go along to what a leader should look like.”
Also practicing Monday were returning walk-ons Justin Cross, Noah Shelby, Will Thengvall and Wilder Evers, for a total of 14 players. Self is hoping all of his walk-ons can remain on the team.
There’s a new roster limit of 15 players this season. KU can have just 14, however, as it completes self-imposed NCAA sanctions reducing one scholarship a year over three years.
The New York judge is said to be in favor of allowing walk-ons to remain with their respective teams until their college eligibility expires.
“The biggest faux pas of the whole thing (NCAA case in court) is how the youngster that has been in your program could be asked to leave your program because of roster limits, and if they’re not grandfathered in (they’d likely have to leave),” Self said.
“What the issue is, is doing what’s right as a, program and a university and from a rule standpoint that doesn’t push kids out that have done absolutely nothing wrong other than want to be at your university.”
Of his team, Self said: “It remains to be seen how the pieces all fit. I think that we’re still trying to improve ourselves, but we’ve gotten a lot better.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2025 at 4:25 PM with the headline "KU Jayhawks’ coach Bill Self discusses health of his team as summer drills begin."
