What’s the next step for KU basketball guard AJ Storr after ‘great’ outing vs. UNC?
AJ Storr didn’t necessarily play poorly in Kansas’ two exhibitions and first regular-season game of the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season.
At the same time, the 6-foot-7, 205-pound junior guard from Rockford, Illinois, didn’t resemble the player who earned second-team all-Big Ten honors a year ago at Wisconsin in scoring eight points against Arkansas, eight versus Washburn and five against Howard.
Storr — he was a combined 1-for-8 from 3 in exhibitions vs. the Razorbacks and Ichabods and 1-of-1 against Howard — lived up to his billing as a preseason Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year candidate in his fourth appearance as a Jayhawk.
He scored 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting in KU’s 92-89 victory over North Carolina on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse. Storr went 1-for-3 from 3 with three assists to no turnovers in 28 minutes.
On several occasions he drove from the wing toward the goal to connect on mid-range buckets.
“One thing we did see tonight,” KU coach Bill Self said after the game, “is when AJ plays downhill he’s pretty good. That’s a big positive. He hadn’t really done that yet. We saw something we haven’t seen yet. That’s a good thing.”
Storr, who started both exhibition games before coming off the bench against Howard and UNC, was praised by Self during his postgame comments to the media Friday.
“He played great tonight. He played downhill,” Self said. “The way we want to play is ball and body movement and the ball doesn’t stick. AJ has a tendency sometimes to hold it. It kind of screws up how we want to do things. It stuck a lot the second half with everybody. He’ll be fine. We’ve practiced hard for six weeks and he hasn’t fought anything. He buys in. His attitude is great. He’s going to get it because he wants to get it. I thought we saw a little bit different AJ when the lights came on tonight.”
Self is obviously hoping Storr builds on Friday’s effort under the bright lights of ESPN on Tuesday night when the Jayhawks play Michigan State in the Champions Classic.
Tipoff is 5:30 p.m. Central at State Farm Arena in Atlanta in one of ESPN’s marquee events of the college hoops season.
Duke will play Kentucky in the second game with tipoff starting at approximately 8 p.m.
Storr is OK with starting or coming off the bench against Tom Izzo’s Spartans, who enter with a 2-0 record following home wins over Monmouth (81-57) and Niagara (96-60). KU also is 2-0 with wins over Howard (87-57) and UNC.
“My role is whatever coach asks me to do,” Storr said in a recent interview. “That’s going to be my role at the end of the day. I feel I can affect the game in multiple ways.”
Storr said he decided to remove his name from the 2024 NBA Draft pool and transfer to KU because he wants “to win at the highest level. Kansas will let me do that. I enjoy being here. Lawrence is a cool town. It kind of reminds me of Madison, a college town. My teammates are cool. We get along on and off the court. We’ve got a lot of veteran players. They make things a lot easier. It’s been great.”
Storr, who averaged 16.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game at Wisconsin last season, chose KU over Illinois, Arkansas and others.
“I want to win. That’s the main thing. The right fit is the second thing,” Storr said. “I feel both of those things were there (regarding KU). Kansas has a tradition of winning obviously, six national championships. That’s what made me want to play for Kansas. I want to win at the highest level. Kansas will let me do that.”
Storr said his favorite part of being a Jayhawk so far was “summer practice. Everybody coming in new, getting to know each other on and off the court.”
He noted that “we’re kind of an older team. We’ve got two freshmen in Rakease (Passmore, guard) and Flory (Bidunga, forward). Everybody else has got experience. Rylan (Griffen, guard) played at Alabama. He went to the Final Four (last season). He has that winning tradition. Zeke (Mayo, guard) came from South Dakota State. He was great there. David (Coit, guard from Northern Illinois) and Shak (Moore, guard from Mississippi State), everybody is seasoned and knows what winning basketball is from some standpoint.”
Storr showed the ability to score last season at Wisconsin. He had 30 points in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals against Northwestern, 20 points in an overtime victory over Purdue in the semifinals and 24 points in the championship game loss to Illinois.
He had two productive outings a year ago against Tuesday’s foe, Michigan State.
Storr scored 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting (3-of-8 from 3) in an 81-66 win over Michigan State on Jan. 26 in Madison. He had 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting (4-of-6 from 3) in a 70-57 win over the Spartans on Dec. 5 in East Lansing, Michigan.
“AJ is a good shooter and terrific scorer,” Self said.
Senior guard Dajuan Harris noted recently that Storr “is really strong. He’s going to make shots. He’s got to be ready to shoot. One thing about AJ, we’ve got to get him going, get him motivated to keep pushing throughout the weeks. Sometimes he can take plays off or something like that. He’s coming from the Big Ten. They play slower over there. Over here we play fast. Coach (Self) wants a more fast paced game even at practice. When he gets used to it he’ll be great for us.”
Storr likes the fact KU is deep at guard.
“Depth is a huge part (of a season),” Storr said. “When you get to March Madness, guys get tired like (at KU) last year. One of their players (Kevin McCullar) got injured. Depth is important. It’s a long season. Every night a different guy is going to have a night. I feel the depth gives us an advantage.
“The guards can all help Hunter (Dickinson, center). Last year they started double teaming him a lot in the post. Having shooters around the perimeter will free him up more.”
