Mulling Taylen Kinney’s choice + football possibilities in new Kansas Jayhawks Q&A
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Taylen Kinney will choose between KU and five others for 2026 commitment.
- Kansas football could reach 10-2 and compete for Big 12 title under forecast.
- Bryce Foster still regains form after missing fall camp with summer injury.
Class of 2026 point guard Taylen Kinney will announce his college choice on Sunday.
The 6-2, 185-pound senior basketball standout from Atlanta’s Overtime Elite program will pick from a list of finalists that includes Kansas, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville and Oregon.
Current KU star and projected No. 1 NBA Draft pick Darryn Peterson has spent time recruiting Kinney.
“DP (Peterson) told me to come and hoop — 10 months and then get to the league,” Kinney told The Star recently. “I mean, that’s what he’s going to do.”
If Kinney were to pick Kansas, he would be the fourth OTE player to choose the Jayhawks in the last two years.
With that, it’s time for another Kansas Jayhawks Q&A. Thanks, as always, for the questions!
Other than at Texas Tech, which seems like it will likely be a loss, what is the Jayhawks ceiling based on their current slate of opponents/state of the conference? @Ball__Atreides
The absolute ceiling for KU football is 10-2 and making the Big 12 Championship game.
Currently, Texas Tech is the clear favorite in the conference, with a noticeable gap separating the Red Raiders from the rest of the league. So, there’s a decent shot KU can finish top-three in the Big 12.
Assuming KU beats Cincinnati Saturday, the Jayhawks then play at UCF, at Texas Tech, host K-State, host OSU, at Arizona, at Iowa State and home against Utah.
I believe KU heads into Lubbock on a three-game winning streak but loses to the Red Raiders. From there, KU should win against K-State, OSU and Arizona.
Iowa State and Utah are toss-ups, but Kansas should beat the Cyclones. I’m unsure about what happens against Utah, but I lean toward KU as the Jayhawks are at home.
I think there’s a world where Kansas only loses one more the rest of the way, but there’s also probably a loss that wasn’t expected in the remaining slate.
My goat, Bryce Foster, has had some issues so far. I saw his recent interview, but I’m wondering if he’s got a lingering injury from summer. Any insight? @ELindison
I’m not sure it’s lingering injuries, but instead, he’s still getting his feet underneath him. Remember, Foster missed a chunk of time during camp due to his injury sustained over the summer.
He’s got high expectations for himself and has noted that he wants to be better than he’s shown this season. He was second-team All-Big 12 last season, so it’s not surprising that he’s so hard on himself.
“I wouldn’t say it’s up to the par that I expected myself to play right now. I had a meeting with Coach (Daryl Agpalsa), I think on Sunday,” Foster said. “We just talked about that, where he expects me to be right now and how I need to do some things a little bit better compared what I had been.
“I’m kind of just trusting myself, keeping that confidence in myself these next couple of weeks. I mean, luckily, we’re only like a quarter away into the season. So, I had that talk, and I’ve strung together my two best practice days of the year so far.”
I might have totally missed it, but what is the status of Daniel Hishaw? @jkasten42
On Monday, KU coach Lance Leipold said he was uncertain about Hishaw’s status and how much he’d do this week.
On the Big 12 player availability report, Hishaw was listed as doubtful to play on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Is it disrespectful to Bones, Rizoli and Isles, and Castle reruns for a college football game to be on TNT at 11am? @JAndrew_Cochran
Excellent question. I’m not sure who the audience is for those shows at 11 a.m., but I have a feeling the viewership for KU-UC will be much larger.
Also, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone in real life who’s watched any of those shows outside of Bones.
In celebration of “Fat Bear Week” (look it up) which current Kansas football or basketball player would stand the best chance of beating a fully grown adult grizzly bear in a one on one fight? @ben_h_hooke
I’m not sure if anyone on the KU basketball team would win a one-on-one fight against a grizzly bear.
The player with the best chance of winning a fight against a bear is probably Bryce Foster. Foster is 6-foot-5, 310 pounds, so it could be a good matchup.
That said, I’m still taking the bear (sorry, Bryce).
