Kansas Jayhawks Q&A: Flory Bidunga, transfer portal chaos & Bill Self’s coaching
One of the most chaotic times of the season began Monday: transfer portal season.
The NCAA transfer portal opened Monday. It’s been a whirlwind couple of days for the Jayhawks. Not only is KU interested in several players, but Kansas forward Zach Clemence became the first Jayhawk to enter the portal with plans of departing.
Some other news and notes: Josh Dix, a shooting guard who played at Iowa, is visiting Lawrence. He averaged 14.4 points while shooting 42.2% from 3 last year.
KU also expressed interest in Donovan Dent, the Mountain West Player of the Year who averaged 20.4 points, 6.4 assists and led his team to the NCAA Tournament.
A source close to Dent’s recruitment said KU had been in contact a couple of times. Still, Kansas isn’t the leader to land him. Dent will likely end up at Kentucky or UCLA with a hefty NIL package (reportedly $3-3.5 million).
(A Saturday morning update: Dent has committed to UCLA.)
With that, it’s time for another Kansas mailbag. Thanks, as always, for the questions!
What was the word on Flory? Is he leaning toward staying or going? @jbritt7
That’s a good question. I wrote about it in depth in my KU roster piece.
A source close to the situation told The Star that Flory Bidunga is not considering entering the portal. The source didn’t anticipate that stance changing anytime soon, assuming Bidunga’s upcoming meeting with KU’s coaches goes as planned.
His current plan is to take a one-week break from basketball, allowing himself time to recharge and reflect on the season. Afterward, he and his camp will meet with Bill Self and the coaching staff to discuss his future.
All indications are that he’ll remain a building block for the Jayhawks. A KU source reiterated this sentiment to The Star.
Incoming 5-star freshman Darryn Peterson also said the talented big man is the player he’s most looking forward to playing with next season.
Any intel on any of our guys hitting the portal? @weednbeers
When I last wrote about this, I said the four guys to watch were Zach Clemence (he entered on Friday), David Coit, Rylan Griffen, and AJ Storr.
The most interesting situation to watch is David Coit. A source described the predicament as a “fluid situation.” Coit wants to return but has clear limitations as a player (for example, on defense).
A lot of it depends on who KU picks up in the transfer portal.
If KU picks up a few guards, both parties could decide to go their separate ways. A source told The Star that if there’s a “fit there at the end of the cycle,” he would be welcomed back.
Meanwhile, Storr and Griffen came into the season with high expectations. Neither lived up to them, but a source told me Storr remained positive through a challenging season.
The source also said Griffen is well-liked by the staff, but they’d hope he would shoot better on 3-pointers (33.6%) than he did last season.
I released a complete breakdown of KU’s roster on Monday for where things stand for each player.
How would an org chart with Coach Self and a GM work? Surely Self has the most authority? @cynwendt
This is a great question. And it’s a question I asked Bill Self earlier this year.
Self was noncommittal about the idea of hiring a general manager. But he said that if a team hires a general manager, the head coach is still the “ultimate” GM.
As for what he’d be looking for?
“I’m not going to say I am going to do that (hire a GM),” Self said, “but I would say the biggest thing that they could probably do is be an elite fundraiser.
“If you can bring in dollars that you’re not presently bringing in, I would say that would be a great role that somebody could potentially have.”
Will Self stop neutering top ranked transfers and let them play freely? Every other school lets them play with confidence. @JS0755477442011
The most significant way a transfer can earn more playing time and the overall trust of Self is to play quality defense.
The transfers who have done the best at KU, recently, have either played excellent defense (like Kevin McCullar) or offered a skill set that was desperately needed, like Zeke Mayo’s sharpshooting or Hunter Dickinson’s offense prowess.
Even with Mayo, there were times Self had frustrations with what was going on defensively, as he might with any of his starters.
Self tends to trust his guys — who have been his system — until something desperately needs to change. He tends to have a shorter leash for transfer players, who might have a lapse on defense or be out of position on offense. If someone like AJ Storr or Rylan Griffen plays tentatively, that could also lead to mistakes, and then time on the bench.
It’s kind of a chicken-and-egg situation: Transfers can’t play freely unless Self trusts them, but they won’t get a chance to earn that trust unless they’re doing the right things.
Self isn’t the first coach to trust the guys who have been his system more and he certainly won’t be the last. He’s also had huge success with returning players.
How can the Jayhawks find the balance between letting transfers make mistakes and ensuring they understand Self’s system? Solving that issue may be the biggest factor as KU tries to make a deep tournament run next season.
What would be your most educated guess at the football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball NIL budget? @JAndrew_Cochran
At this time, it’s hard to guess, in part because the Jayhawks’ split has not been decided yet. At least that’s what a KU Athletics source told me.
With revenue sharing, KU’s total budget could be up to $20.5 million.
My colleague Kellis Robinett has reported Kansas State plans to keep 20% for men’s basketball, but the Jayhawks will probably have a different split, given the importance of men’s basketball to the athletic department in Lawrence.
We should know more this summer.
This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 2:15 PM.
