Who will start for KU on Senior Day? Who will give speeches after the game? Some insight
Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self normally starts five seniors — if there are that many on the roster — during the Jayhawks’ annual Senior Night game at Allen Fieldhouse.
However, it’ll likely be four seniors — Dajuan Harris, KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson and Zeke Mayo — plus one junior, Rylan Griffen, opening KU’s Senior Day contest against Arizona.
The game is set for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
“It’s probably not going to change this year,” Self, KU’s 22nd-year head coach, said of the lineup for the final home game of the 2024-25 season. “It will not be a situation this year (change in starting lineup) because we have so many seniors (seven to choose from).”
The coach was speaking on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show Wednesday evening.
“You are going to start four anyway and can’t start all the seniors, so we are going to go more than likely how we have been going. We’re going to focus in on, ‘Let’s beat Arizona.’ That’s what we need to do.”
Self said seven seniors will be recognized before the game. The group consists of the four above-mentioned starters, plus Shakeel Moore, Patrick Cassidy and Dillon Wilhite.
David “Diggy” Coit will not be recognized because he has another year of eligibility remaining and is now listed as a junior. Former Northern Illinois guard Coit told media members recently he’d like to return for a second season in Lawrence.
Four senior managers will also be introduced before the Big 12 finale for both teams.
“We’ve got seven that will be recognized, but not that many are going to talk (after the game), because some of them have already spoken, either here or at their previous place,” Self said, noting postgame speeches will be given by Harris, Adams, Mayo, Cassidy and Wilhite.
Moore was honored last season at Mississippi State; Dickinson last season at KU.
“To keep it where we get out of there before sundown, we need to (have five speakers) and I’ll put a limit on the all the speeches, so it won’t be long. So I hope everybody sticks around to to listen,” Self said.
The featured speakers, of course will be Adams, who has been at KU four years and Harris for six seasons. Both played on KU’s 2022 NCAA title team.
“It should be a special day and hopefully we’re able to honor Shak, Zeke, Hunt and Dillon and Pat, but primarily let’s call it like it is, KJ and Juan who have been here for 10 years combined,” Self said. “Hopefully we honor everybody, but particularly those two moreso, in my mind, deserve to be recognized as much as any that we’ve had here in a long time,” Self added.
Self said Moore would not play in the game featuring unranked KU (19-11, 10-9) and No. 24 Arizona (20-10, 14-5) because of his foot injury.
“We actually thought the best thing to happen to Dajuan Harris in the last three years was (adding) Shak because he’d push him every day (at practice),” Self said. “Shak can play with Juan and be as effective as Juan when healthy.”
But Moore has not been healthy much of the season.
“One day when I was not there (for summer pickup game) he jumped to catch a pass,” Self said. “When he jumped, he broke his foot. To be candid with you it was a three-month healing process. We gave him all three months, thought it’d heal, gave him four. He tried to play and cracked it again.
“Could he come back this year and help us in spot minutes? That opportunity still exists. As of now it’s not (going) to happen. We’re running out of time. It’s disappointing for him. He has a good attitude. When he was starting we were actually playing our best ball. He added an element defensively that was very good for us.”
Self said Wednesday that senior forward Dickinson, who leads the team in scoring (16.9 ppg) and rebounding (9.9 rpg) could be a huge factor in the upcoming postseason. He also expressed hope that Coit could take on the spark-plug/instant-offense role occupied so well by guard Remy Martin during the 2022 postseason.
“Hunter has had a good run,” Self said. “He needs to go out in style and the way he goes out in style is he puts us on his back and carries us down the stretch. I think he’s been on an uptick.
“I will say this about Hunt. I think for his legacy here to have an impact in a way that he would want it to, he’s got to play right now. He’s got to. That’s not being negative. The reality of it is, hey, the best guys have got to play when it counts the most. And he’s certainly one of the best guys.”
