Will Tyran Stokes wear Nike or Adidas at Kansas? Plus, football | KU Jayhawks Q&A

Multiple NBA scouts have told The Star that Kansas Jayhawks guard Kohl Rosario will eventually be an NBA player.

We asked five NBA scouts/draft evaluators to rank players on KU’s 2025-26 roster from 1-5 in terms of draftability.

Unsurprisingly, guard Darryn Peterson was the unanimous/consensus No. 1 selection. The second-place spot was split among Flory Bidunga, Bryson Tiller and Rosario.

Two scouts had Rosario on their top-5 lists. Evaluators like his work ethic and overall hoops ability. There’s a belief his shooting will improve next season, and his overall athleticism and defensive potential are intriguing to NBA scouts.

The Jayhawks’ coaching staff is high on Rosario, too, because of his work ethic, character and potential. Let’s see if Rosario can take the leap that scouts and staff are expecting.

Another little tidbit: I mentioned in my last mailbag that Nike was trying to get Nike athlete Tyran Stokes to end up at a Nike college hoops program — that is, a program sponsored by Nike.

Stokes is now a Jayhawk and will instead attend an Adidas school. I’ve fielded a lot of questions about what that means — and what he will wear during games.

A source told The Star that Stokes will wear Adidas gear during games, per KU’s contract with Adidas. Off the court, Stokes can and likely will wear Nike gear. An example of this would be former Duke star Cooper Flagg, who had a New Balance deal for off-the-court use (Duke is a Nike school).

I’m a bit worried about next year’s team being potentially one of Self’s worst defensive teams. Talk me off the ledge, shre. @bigceej33

I understand your concern. At the moment, KU will likely start two undersized guards in Taylen Kinney and Leroy Blyden (both are 6-foot-1).

On top of that, there will undoubtedly be a dropoff from former big man Flory Bidunga to either Paul Mbiya or Christian Reeves, depending on who starts.

That said, all hope is not lost. KU’s guards might be undersized, but they have active hands. Blyden averaged 1.8 steals per game, Kinney about 1.1, at OTE. That’s huge, as the Jayhawks ranked No. 339 in opponent turnover percentage last season.

KU’s rebounding should also be much improved in 2026-27. Stokes is an elite rebounder and Keanu Dawes averaged 8.8 rebounds per game last season for Utah. Bryson Tiller, now at Mizzou, struggled with rebounding this past season.

Both Mbiya and Reeves are solid rebounders and much bigger than Bidunga. KU’s rim protection may not be as good — or quite as switchable — but the Jayhawks should be a lot better at manufacturing turnovers and getting rebounds.

On top of that, I have confidence that coach Bill Self will set up his defense to be very good, as usual. Even with Hunter Dickinson starting a couple of years ago, the Jayhawks somehow still ranked top-20 for defensive efficiency.

Please release the transcript from Paul’s agent @KuNajee

Haha, that would be a doozy. Listen, that phone call was an interesting one. Mbiya’s manager was very open.

It was a 15- to 20-minute call. The manager was clearly frustrated, talking about how the bigs in the portal weren’t that good. He felt KU was lowballing Mbiya because of his loyalty to the school.

One particularly interesting remark was the manager’s assertion that Moustapha Thiam would not have played much last season, had he been at KU because of Bidunga.

The figure the manager cited as average for big men in the portal — $1.6 million — was pretty accurate, according to two NBA sources. That just shows how inflated the transfer portal has been this offseason overall.

As it stands right now, does the kubball roster have the depth and the quality for a Final 4? Why? And if not, what is missing and how do they realistically add it? @mikvogel

At the moment, I don’t think so. My biggest issue with this roster is that there are a lot of question marks about the young players and not enough scoring off the bench.

For example, KU is counting on Stokes, Kinney and Blyden to carry the load, with Dawes as a likely third or fourth option.

The first three players are freshmen and sophomores, and Blyden is coming from the MAC, so all could see some growing pains in the Big 12 next season.

Last season’s KU roster was built around Darryn Peterson but included two veterans, Melvin Council and Tre White. They helped carry the load, and Self also had an elite center in Bidunga.

As for the bench, the Jayhawks really need some scoring. A source close to former K-State guard Abdi Bashir says Bashir recently had a Zoom with KU. The Jayhawks had interest in him last summer before he ended up at K-State.

Make no mistake, Bashir is really good at one thing: shooting the ball. His defense is not great, but he averaged 13.2 points per game and shot 44% on about eight 3-point attempts per game in 2025-26.

Imagine him coming off the bench: He would add instant offense and help ease the burden on the freshmen.

But even with Bashir, it might not be enough. For KU to make a Final Four run in 2026-27, the Jayhawks must hit on all of their portal additions; guard Kohl Rosario has to take a big step forward; and Kinney and Stokes can’t be the only freshmen making meaningful contributions.

It will be a tall task.

I don’t have a question, but I just need some football content. @ELindison

Here are a few tidbits from talking to some sources around the KU football program.

Setting aside the quarterback competition for a second, this team looks better than expected. I was told the transfers have integrated well and many are ahead of schedule.

Now, about that quarterback competition: It’s pretty fierce. Neither Cole Ballard nor Isaiah Marshall has separated himself from the other. Ballard is the seen as a better thrower, but Marshall might have a higher ceiling because of his legs. Ballard has a good overall command of the offense.

Meanwhile, Rice transfer Chase Jenkins didn’t play much during spring ball as he continued to recover from an injury. But he was impressive later in camp and started to get more reps with the first team.

Defensive end Leroy Harris III. is a name to watch next season. I would not be surprised if he has a breakout year. Teammates and coaches have raved about him.

Running back Kory Amachree might see snaps as a freshman. He, like Harris, has garnered glowing reviews from teammates and coaches alike. Fellow back Yasin Willis compared Amachree’s playing style to that of CMC, NFL star Christian McCaffrey.

Georgia transfer Jaden Harris calls Amachree “Lil Saquon” — a reference to All-Pro Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.

Shreyas Laddha

The Kansas City Star

Shreyas Laddha covers KU hoops and football for The Star. He’s a Georgia native and graduated from the University of Georgia.