A rotation of 10 players? KU Jayhawks coach Bill Self says it’s possible this season

Gary Bedore
·4 min read

A lot can happen between now and Nov. 9, date of the Kansas Jayhawks’ men’s basketball regular-season opener against Michigan State in New York.

But, as of right now — based on the first three weeks of practice — 19th-year KU coach Bill Self, who likes what he’s seen from his roster of 18 players, can envision himself using more reinforcements in games than he ever has before.

“I think we could play 10. I do. I never have. You know nine is the most I’ve played,” Self said, discussing a possible rotation, in a Monday night phone conversation with The Star.

“We could play five perimeter players. You kind of play three post men, then a fourth post man depending on injuries and foul problems. But I think we could play 10 this year; I really do.”

Self says practices have been productive — and competitive — since the Jayhawks’ only appearance thus far before the fans — the Oct. 1 Late Night in the Phog.

“Practice has been good. The guys have done well,” he said, simply.

For instance, the point guards have all impressed at times, Self said.

“You know what, they are pretty even. Juan has probably had a better preseason camp. Remy has been better of late,” Self stated of sophomore returnee Dajuan Harris and senior transfer Remy Martin.

“Bobby Pettiford (freshman) is a good player, too. Joseph (Yesufu, sophomore transfer) is a good player. We’ll probably not play him (Yesufu) on the ball as much. We’ve got some good depth back there that really hasn’t created as much separation as we probably thought it would this time of year — this late in the practice season.”

Also, freshman point guard/shooting guard Kyle Cuffe Jr., who had arthroscopic knee surgery in September and did not play in the Late Night scrimmage, has been 100% and practicing full-go the past 2 1/2 weeks.

“I’ve gone pretty slow. We are behind as far as getting a lot of stuff in,” said Self, who has 10 newcomers on the roster this season — four freshmen scholarship players, four transfers and two new walk-ons.

“So we’ve really got to turn that up. I’ve got to take the time to get a lot of stuff in daily,” he added.

On the injury front, Self stated: “We’ve been able to stay healthy for the most part and allow our newcomers to get a lot of reps. We haven’t had anybody miss any significant amount of time yet. Hopefully that’ll continue to be the case.”

Self’s Jayhawks have been getting a lot of positive publicity of late.

On Monday, KU was ranked No. 3 in the preseason Associated Press poll. Recently KU was picked to finish first in Big 12 Conference in the annual preseason coaches poll.

Of the national ranking, Self said: “I think like all preseason predictions, it’s usually based on what players you have returning or what newcomers you have that are projected to be stars. In our case we’ve got a newcomer (Remy Martin, Big 12 preseason player of year) that is projected to be terrific and we have good returning players.

“It doesn’t surprise me we’re ranked high, but that doesn’t mean anything,” Self added. “I certainly hope we do play to our ranking. If we are able to do that we’ll be one of the better teams around but that still remains to be seen. There’s a lot of good teams out there.”

Of being picked ahead of runner-up Texas in the league race, Self said: “I’d rather be picked to win the league than not picked to win the league probably but we’ve been in this situation several times. It doesn’t mean anything. Preseason stuff means absolutely nothing. I think our guys totally understand it means nothing. I don’t think it means much to us even though it does say we have potential to have a really nice team.”

Of Martin being named preseason player of the year in the league, Self said: “I’m happy our guys get recognized. I think in many ways it kind of gives you a head start that if things go well early you can be thought about consistently on a pretty high level. The bottom line is it’s a long season and what people think in October doesn’t have anything to do with how it will play out.”

KU will continue practicing in preparation for the Michigan State game. The Jayhawks will hold a scrimmage that is closed to the media and public on Oct. 30 at Tulsa. KU will play one exhibition game, against Emporia State at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at Allen Fieldhouse.

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