This Kansas Jayhawks basketball player believes KU can win a championship now
Kansas Jayhawks forward Bryson Tiller uses one word to describe his game at its best: dominance.
The freshman hasn’t played much basketball in the last 15 months because of a nagging ankle injury.
Tiller joined the Jayhawks in the second semester but spent the second half of the 2024-25 school year rehabbing his injury. He believes that the semester he spent watching and recuperating gives him an advantage over the team’s newcomers.
“I feel like I already know what to expect,” Tiller told The Star. “I’ve seen him (Jayhawks head coach Bill Self) coach. I’ve seen him in the locker room. I definitely know what to expect.”
Self has high expectations for Tiller. On multiple occasions, he’s called Tiller a future pro.
Fittingly, Tiller models his game after a number of NBA players, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Pablo Banchero and Kawhi Leonard.
It remains to be seen whether Tiller can play even half as well as those NBA stars, but he remains confident.
“I mean, being out for this past year basically (15 months), it’s taken away the game I love,” he said. “This year I’m coming for a lot of heads and I’m just going to be super grateful to be out there.”
Tiller noted that it was tough to not to be able to play. But he believes there was no point in getting dejected about being sidelined by the injury.
“I didn’t spend a lot of time being down,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to each new day.”
Tiller also got a firsthand view of last season’s team on the bench. Last season’s Jayhawks, ranked No. 1 in the preseason, never lived up to expectations. KU lost to Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Self’s KU roster for 2025-26 is almost completely new, with just one holdover — center Flory Bidunga. Tiller, Elmarko Jackson, Noah Shelby and Jamari McDowell also return, but none saw the court last season.
“It’s a fresh start,” Tiller said. “I just feel like we are more versatile and overall more athletic.”
Tiller said it was hard to remain on the bench as last season’s team floundered.
“I definitely wanted to get up there and play,” he said. “It was a lesson to be learned. I think we’ll have a fresh start (this season).”
As for what he hopes to accomplish during his freshman season?
“My goal is really to win a national championship,” he said. “Everybody says it. It’s very hard to accomplish, but I feel like this year, we can really do that.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2025 at 11:39 AM.
