Summer basketball update: KU assistant Jeremy Case likes what he’s seen from Jayhawks
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tyran Stokes has practiced with Kansas since summer school and draws praise for passing.
- Point guard Taylen Kinney joined KU June 8 and is credited with elite ball handling.
- KU coaching staff report progress and roles for several newcomers and returnees.
Now that Darryn Peterson, the No. 1 prospect in the high school recruiting class of 2025, has completed his one-and-done season at Kansas and surfaced in Utah as the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the focus shifts to another top KU prospect.
Tyran Stokes, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound wing out of Seattle’s Rainier Beach High School, is the No. 1 rated player in the recruiting class of 2026. He has been practicing with his new KU teammates since the start of summer school 3 1/2 weeks ago.
How’s he looked?
“He’s athletic. He’s about 6-foot-8, handles the ball. He shoots it well, but I think his biggest attribute is his passing,” KU associate head coach Jeremy Case said Wednesday night as a guest on a summertime edition of the Hawk Talk radio show.
“He can make his teammates better. He can see passes three plays ahead. He’s unbelievable passing,” Case added.
Stokes, who is originally from Louisville, averaged 31.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 4.0 steals in leading Rainier Beach to a 29-1 record and the Washington Class 3A state title.
In the state quarterfinals, Stokes recorded a triple-double with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over Seattle O’Dea. He scored 16 points with seven rebounds and five assists in a state championship victory over Tacoma’s Lincoln High. Earlier in the season, Stokes scored a career-high 63 points against West Seattle.
“He’s a big-time competitor, always wants to win and we’ve been playing a lot of competition this summer, and you can see that (desire to win),” Case said. “He really gets frustrated when he’s getting beat. He’s taking some L’s this summer so far, but he’s definitely competing. The biggest thing about it that I like is he’s a willing passer. He wants to make his teammates better. He’s fun to play with.”
Case said KU assistant coach Kurtis Townsend, the lead recruiter in the pursuit of Peterson, “led the recruiting on (Stokes) and did an unbelievable job. And it was one of those things where coach (Bill) Self was a big, big instrument, because (Stokes) knew that coach Self would make sure he played the right way. He wanted to be coached, and he knew coach Self was going to coach him.”
Another freshman McDonald’s All-American, point guard Taylen Kinney, has been practicing with the 2026-27 Jayhawks since arriving on campus June 8. Before that he helped Team USA earn a silver medal in the 2026 FIBA U18 men’s AmeriCup in Mexico.
“The biggest thing for him is his feel,” Case said of Kinney, a 6-2, 185 graduate of the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta.
“He understands the game. He knows how to get people involved and he has unbelievable ball handling skills. He can handle the ball. Nobody can take the ball from him,” added Case, lead recruiter in the pursuit of Kinney, ranked No. 21 in the class of 2026 by ESPN.
“The biggest thing for me was his maturity,” Case added. “At his age he could really lead a team, and that’s what really got me to start watching him. ... All the guys like him. He’s easy to like, but he also can lead and direct traffic really well.”
Kinney has many social media followers outside of Lawrence.
“The one thing about him is he’s kind of a TikTok star, you know, ‘6-7,’” Case said of the 6-7 craze among youths.
“Well, I guess there’s a rap song, and the rapper (Skrilla) made a shoutout to him during it, and then he started doing it on TikTok, and it was just kind of pretty incredible. But (Kinney) wants to let everybody know that he’s a basketball player. He’s not worried about social media and all that,” Case added.
Kinney has more than 468,000 Instagram followers.
Case commented on the summertime play of several other Jayhawks on Wednesday’s Hawk Talk radio show.
Of former Toledo point guard Leroy Blyden Jr., Case said: “Leroy is quick. He’s a good shooter. He shot 41% from 3 (last year as a freshman at Toledo) which is something we need as far as shooting.
“I know he’s a little small. He’s probably 6-foot-0, 170 pounds, but he’s tough, scrappy and he’s really fast in transition. What we’re excited about is his shooting more than anything. He’s played a lot of minutes and understands how to play. Can his body handle the minutes and physicality of the Big 12? We think it can.”
Blyden averaged 16.4 points and 4.5 assists a game en route to being named MAC freshman of the year at Toledo.
Both Case and fellow assistant Jacque Vaughn, who also was a guest on the Hawk Talk show Wednesday, commented on Davion Adkins, a 6-9, 205-pound freshman forward out of Prolific Prep.
“Athleticism,” Case said of a strength of Adkins, who enters KU ranked No. 65 in the class of 2026.
“He’s got good ball skills for his size with a 7-1, 7-2 wingspan. He can block shots. He can run the floor. He can catch lobs. And what we’ve been excited about is his shooting. He can actually shoot better than we thought he could,” Case added.
KU assistant Vaughn said: “There’s a newness and freshness with Davion Adkins, his ability to want to have an answer — try things even if you fail at them at first. Getting uncomfortable is a good thing.”
Dennis Parker Jr., a 6-6, 215-pound wing out of Richmond, Virginia, averaged 18.3 points a game as a junior at Radford last season.
“Kind of a late addition (signing May 11), but he’s one of those guys that can just score,” Case said. “He comes in with an aggressive mindset — get downhill, go score. He can shoot. He scored 53 in a game this year (vs. Coppin State), which is pretty impressive at any level. He’s a big body, about 6-6, 220. We expect him to come in and be a big-time scorer for us.”
Keanu Dawes, a 6-9, 225 senior who averaged 12.5 points and 8.8 rebounds at Utah last season, “is a terrific athlete,” Case said. “He can play multiple positions and the one thing that he’s doing better now is shooting it. He put in a lot of work during the offseason, and he’s really shooting the ball well. He shot about 32 or 33%, which we think that can get up to about 38%.”
Trent Perry, a 6-5 freshman guard/forward from Link Academy in Branson, brings “toughness,” Case said. “He’s an unbelievable defender. He can get downhill and he’s kind of one of those glue guys that just you have to have out there on the floor.”
Perry, ranked No. 90 in his class by ESPN, has a 7-foot-2 wingspan.
Luke Barnett “has been shooting the ball really well,” Case said of the 6-3, 170-pound freshman out of Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Calilfornia who has made as many as 12 3s in a game.
“He’s an unbelievable shooter who has shot it very well this summer,” Case added.
Christian Reeves, a 7-2, 255 senior transfer from College of Charleston had labrum surgery in April. The hope is he’ll be ready for contact drills early to mid-October.
“He’s coming along. He’s on schedule and working hard, and he’s actually doing a lot more now,” Case said. “He’s not running yet, but he’s walking on the treadmill with incline. He’s progressing really well, and we see him being very instrumental. He’s 7-foot, very agile, and can protect the rim. He runs the floor well. We see him doing a lot of things for us this year.”
KU has two scholarship returnees this year in sophomore guard Kohl Rosario and soph big man Paul Mbiya. Mbiya has reported after spending the last month in France. KU also returns guard Will Thengvall of Wichita who is grandfathered in as a walk-on.
“Paul is in really good physical condition,” Case said. “Those two guys are going to make a big jump and they’ve had a good summer so far.”
Of incoming freshmen forwards Grant Mordini and Atticus Richmond, who could provide depth in the post if needed, Case said: “They’ve been doing well. Grant’s been a little bit injured; Atticus has done really well so far.”
KU still has two scholarships to give in recruiting.
“I would say we’re finished (recruiting) in the post, but there’s always a chance something could pop up and maybe we add something,” Case said.
“Recruiting never stops and we’re always calling. We’re always talking to agents and whoever we need to talk to, so sometimes something falls in your lap, and it may make us better. But if it doesn’t, are happy with our team? Absolutely,” Case said.
