KU’s Kinney, Adkins develop ‘chemistry’ at recent USA Basketball training camp
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- Kinney and Adkins built on-court chemistry during six days at USA Basketball camp.
- The 2026 FIBA AmeriCup runs through June 7 in Leon, Mexico.
- Adkins will join KU for eight weeks of summer school and team workouts.
Incoming Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball players Taylen Kinney and Davion Adkins participated in six days of drills and scrimmages together at USA Basketball men’s Under 18 training camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The two freshmen are expected to be immediate rotation players for KU coach Bill Self during the 2026-27 college season. The work together in Colorado gave them a head start on that.
“It’s been great building chemistry with ‘D.A.’ We barely got to play with each other (in high school) so now we finally got a couple reps with each other,” Kinney said. “That chemistry is great for the upcoming season.”
Kinney is a 6-foot-2, 185-pound graduate of the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta. Adkins is a 6-9, 205-pound graduate of Prolific Prep in Florida.
“We’ve got a big season (as) two freshmen coming in,” noted Kinney, a point guard ranked No. 21 in the recruiting class of 2026 by ESPN.com. “We’ve got big roles on the team, so just building a bit of that chemistry early to go play with the other guys — it’s just great.”
The two Jayhawks newcomers, who were interviewed by reporter Krysten Peek on Wednesday at training camp, will have to settle for just a week of hoops together. Kinney, a native of Newport, Kentucky, was one of 12 (out of 32) players to survive cuts and make the roster of Team USA, which will compete in the 2026 FIBA AmeriCup set for Monday until June 7 in Leon, Mexico.
Adkins, who did not survive the final cut from 19 players to 12, will instead join his KU teammates in Lawrence for eight weeks of summer school classes and team workouts. Summer school begins at KU on Monday, coinciding with the start of Self’s first of two basketball camps for youths.
“They’ve been great,” power forward Adkins, the No. 64-rated player in the class of 2026 per ESPN.com, said of the Under-18 team’s prep. “Everybody’s been competing every day. Six days … it’s been hard every day, (the) altitude is hitting everybody, but we’re getting used to it as we go along. We just keep pushing.”
Of future KU point guard Kinney’s game, Adkins said: “His passing is crazy. Like some passes he makes to me, I don’t know how he gets it, but he reaches around, throws it on the dime, so his passing is great. When he comes off the screen, if he shoots the ball, it’s most times going in.”
Adkins, a prospect with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, said his goals this upcoming summer entail “just getting prepared for the season at Kansas, just becoming more of a dog, and being able to score the ball whenever I get it. And my passing ... I know it’s there, so when I make reads, just make sure I see the whole floor and see everybody.”
Kinney and Adkins are part of a freshman class that includes Tyran Stokes, a 6-7 wing from Rainier Beach High in Seattle, the consensus No. 1 recruit in the class of 2026.
Peek asked Kinney if it was true he’d be rooming with Stokes at McCarthy Hall this school year.
“Maybe,” Kinney said, smiling. “Me and Tyran have been close since middle school so you basically are rooming with one of your closest friends, a good friend.”
Kinney’s reaction to Stokes’ April 28 announcement that he’d be playing a one-and-done season at KU?
“I was hyped, adding everybody to the call, my mom, stepdad, everybody. (I said), ‘Yeah we’re national champs, national champs, national champs.’ I was really happy.”
Adkins said when he heard of Stokes’ commitment he exclaimed, ‘Oh yes, we’ve got the natty right here.’’’
Both players are enthused about the Jayhawks’ roster and prospects for a stellar season.
“I mean, look at the team. I’ve got Davion and Tyran and Leroy (Blyden, sophomore point guard transfer from Toledo) around me. Just going out there having fun, winning games, doing that national championship,” Kinney said.
Kinney is most looking forward to “playing in that arena under Bill Self, in that atmosphere, playing top teams every night.”
While he’s with Team USA — and when he’s in Lawrence in coming weeks — Kinney’s goal is to “get bigger, stronger, faster, get better at basketball. Be in the best shape I can be, and then just go kill the season.”
Adkins wants to be physically prepared for play in the Big 12, which will follow a tough nonconference schedule.
“Just stay in the weight room,” Adkins said of his plans, “making sure I get stronger every day, trying to go in at least 220, so when I get there, I’m bumping everybody, no friendly stuff on the court. We’re not friends on the court, but hey, off the court we are all teammates. We all love each other. This will be great.”
The Team USA Under 18 team roster consists of Kinney plus: Bruce Branch III, Quentin Coleman, Adan Diggs, Caleb Gaskins, Demarcus Henry, Jasiah Jervin, Malachi Jordan, Colben Landrew, Ethan Taylor, Davion Thompson and Darius Washington.
Team USA will play Group A games against Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. The squad will take on Argentina in its opening game at 6:30 p.m. Central on Monday.
