Roster addition of Hunter Dickinson means rise in early preseason rankings for Kansas
The Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team has vaulted from No. 6 to No. 1 in the country in CBSsports.com’s preseason “Top 25 and 1” rankings — and from No 6 to No. 2 in ESPN.com’s “Way Too Early Top 25” — for the 2023-24 season.
The movement in the CBS and ESPN polls is directly related to 7-footer Hunter Dickinson’s decision to transfer from Michigan to KU, which was announced by Dickinson Thursday.
“Simply put, trusting Bill Self to be awesome is literally the safest thing you can do in this sport — evidence being how he’s guided his teams to 24 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and earned No. 1 seeds in 10 of the past 16 NCAA Tournaments,” wrote Gary Parrish of CBSsports.com in ranking KU ahead of defending national champ UConn in his updated “Top 25 And 1” rankings released Saturday.
“On paper, Self now has a roster good enough to win the 2024 NCAA Tournament. So, at this point, at least in my eyes, his Jayhawks should be considered the favorites to do it,” Parrish added.
Parrish predicted KU will have a starting lineup of two-time first-team all-Big Ten selection Dickinson at center, KJ Adams at forward and the trio of Dajuan Harris, Elmarko Jackson and Nicolas Timberlake at guard.
“That’s a starting lineup with size, shooting and experience, one so strong that former top-35 prospects Arterio Morris and Ernest Udeh will likely begin games on the bench. It’s enough to compel me to move the Jayhawks to No. 1 in Version 10.0 of the 2023-24 CBS Sports preseason “Top 25 And 1” college basketball rankings. But, with Dickinson on board, my pick for a preseason No. 1 is now the Kansas Jayhawks.” Parrish wrote.
KU and UConn topped Parrish’s poll followed by Purdue, Marquette, Duke, FAU, Alabama, Michigan State, Houston, Arkansas, Creighton, Gonzaga, USC, Miami, Kentucky, San Diego State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas, Baylor, Arizona, UCLA, St. Mary’s, Auburn, Iowa State and Mississippi State.
ESPN.com’s Jeff Borzello listed Duke at No. 1 and KU No. 2 in the “Way Too Early Top 25” released Saturday.
“Bill Self adding transfers Nicolas Timberlake (Towson) and Arterio Morris (Texas) pushed Kansas from No. 10 to just outside the top five — and now the addition of Hunter Dickinson puts the Jayhawks right behind Duke for the top spot,” wrote Borzello. “Dickinson and K.J Adams are the perfect frontcourt duo for Self, with their ability to face up or play on the block, while Morris and Timberlake provide offensive boosts around Dajuan Harris, one of the elite pass-first point guards in college basketball.”
Borzello has Harris, Morris and Timberlake starting at guard with Dickinson and Adams in the frontcourt.
Of No. 1 Duke, Borzello wrote: “The Blue Devils rose to the top of the rankings with the return of Kyle Filipowski, who would have been a first-round pick had he entered the NBA draft. But, he returned to anchor the frontcourt, while Tyrese Proctor and Mark Mitchell also decided to come back to Durham. Jeremy Roach is still testing the waters, while top-10 recruit Mackenzie Mgbako reopened his recruitment. The Blue Devils are still in the market for another big.”
Following Duke and KU in the ESPN poll: Marquette, Michigan State, UConn, Houston, Tennessee, Gonzaga, FAU, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Saint Mary’s, USC, Creighton, Baylor, Purdue, Texas A&M, Miami, North Carolina, Colorado, Wisconsin, Maryland, Arizona and San Diego State. Listed as next in line: UCLA, West Virginia, Auburn, Boise State and Xavier.
247sports.com has KU No. 1
KU is currently ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll of 247sports.com.
“The Jayhawks had a deep and talented roster for the 2023-24 season, including returning starters in Harris and Adams from a team that won the Big 12 and set a record for most Quadrant I victories in a season before falling to Arkansas in the second round. But they were lacking an anchoring star following the graduation of All-American Jalen Wilson … until Dickinson pledged to play for the Jayhawks,” wrote analyst Kevin Flaherty on Sunday.
“Few coaches are as willing to feed post-up threats like Self is, and he shows the ability to tweak his defenses to fit his players’ strengths as well. The Jayhawks have one more open spot with Kevin McCullar looking increasingly likely to stay in the NBA Draft, and that could go to Mgbako, the No. 10 overall player, with the Jayhawks arguably the favorite to land his services.
Duke is ranked No, 2 by 247sports.com followed by Marquette, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Creighton, Houston, Purdue, UConn, Arkansas, Tennessee, FAU, Alabama, Miami, Saint Mary’s, Texas, Texas A&M, Arizona, TCU, Missouri, North Carolina, Kentucky, Maryland, USC and Colorado.
Of Mizzou, Flaherty wrote: “A big part of this ranking depends on the return of Kobe Brown, should he push back the NBA for another season in Columbia. If he goes, Missouri will still have some nice pieces, including a deep, talented group of wings that added John Tonje, Caleb Grill and Tamar Bates through the transfer portal. The Tigers are still in the portal looking for help at the the four and five spots.”
