This is what national writers are saying about KU ahead of 2021 NCAA Tournament
It’s been a topsy-turvy season for the Kansas men’s basketball team.
The Jayhawks briefly fell out of the Associated Press’ Top 25 rankings in February while six other Big 12 teams were ranked. KU lost five of seven games at one point, but turned things around and finished second in the Big 12.
But KU had to leave the Big 12 Tournament because David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna were out because of COVID-19 protocols, and then a third player tested positive.
Nevertheless, the Jayhawks are the No. 3 seed in the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
Here is what national college basketball writers are saying about KU.
USA Today’s Dan Wolken noted KU had that rough patch during the season but turned it around.
“(David) McCormack missed the conference tournament due to COVID-19 protocols before the team was knocked out of the event with a positive test,” Wolken wrote. “Should Kansas be cleared to play, McCormack’s status is critical. Without their big man, Kansas will have to play small and could be hurt by teams with size and depth. There is little scoring off the bench even when he is in the lineup.
ESPN’s Myron Medcalf took a look at each team in the tournament.
This is part of what he wrote about KU: “Back in January, Kansas didn’t look like a typical Kansas team. Bill Self had not yet found the right rotation and a team that had lost Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike from last season’s squad clearly hadn’t filled that void. But then February arrived and the Jayhawks seemed to make a conscious choice to use elite defense to pull them through the final stretch of the season and it worked.”
Jeremy Wood of Sports Illustrated called KU “always formidable, COVID-19-pending.”
Wood also wrote: “As a smaller ask, a USC-Kansas second-round matchup would be pretty intriguing.”
Alan Blinder of the New York Times took note of the effect the COVID-19 protocols have had on the Jayhawks.
“On Friday, the men’s basketball team, which had been struggling with the pandemic earlier in the week, pulled out of the Big 12 tournament after a positive test,” Blinder wrote.
“The Jayhawks, who have appeared in every N.C.A.A. tournament since 1990, are going to try to play anyway, short-handed as they may be. Remember the standard the N.C.A.A. has set: A team can play if it has at least five players available.
The Associated Press wondered about the Jayhawks’ depth.
“The big questions are who can the Jayhawks send onto the court in the NCAA opener and how deep is the bench?” the AP wrote. “McCormack is second on the team in both scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.1 rpg). Kansas is basically five deep from Ochai Agbaji (14.2 ppg) to Christian Braun (9.8).”
The Ringer’s Rodger Sherman took note of a potential Wichita State-KU meeting in the regional.
“You probably think Kansas’s claim to being the best college basketball program in its own state is pretty strong,” Sherman wrote. “You know, because the Jayhawks have five national championships, more conference titles than any program in the nation, and the longest streak of consecutive NCAA tournament berths. Plus James Naismith coached there, and he invented the sport!
“But how can Kansas claim such a title if it’s never beaten Wichita State in the tourney? The Jayhawks are 0-2 all time against the Shockers in March, losing 66-65 to an Antoine Carr-led team in the 1981 regional finals and falling 78-65 to a Fred VanVleet–led squad in the 2015 Round of 32.”
The Jayhawks are ranked as the eighth-best team in the NCAA Tournament field by CBS Sports.
“Kansas has been the No. 2-rated per-possession defensive team in the past month,” CBS Sports wrote. “At full strength, this team is playing like a top-10 unit. I’ll rank it as though it will have its full roster available, though clearly that won’t be the case. David McCormack is expected to be back, and the big man’s success has often correlated with Kansas’ dominance.”
Andy Wittry of NCAA.com forecast the winner of each first-round game and he praised the Jayhawks.
“The Jayhawks turned their season around in February, having won eight of their last nine games,” Wittry wrote. “They experienced COVID-19 issues that knocked them out of the Big 12 tournament, but with a top-10 defense and a veteran backcourt of Marcus Garrett and Ochai Agbaji, there’s still a lot to like about Kansas.”
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 11:01 AM.
