Vaughn is an excellent selection to replace Roberts! I feel certain he will help in every area… recruiting, development, game/practice coaching, team structure/strategy… and YES he is potentially a future replacement for Self! He is perfect to help modernize our program through all the current challenges!
His off-court shenanigans will surely disqualify him. I can’t imagine it happening either. I’m not going to qualify this rumor… yes… I heard it, but rumors don’t mean facts!
Don’t lose sleep over it.
What should we look for in a new coach? I think the landscape is changing. A skill has emerged on my radar… evolution! A coach who is open minded and capable to adapt quickly to the changing landscape. This makes me think YOUNG! Where do we find youth with vast experience? Maybe a past player who also played in the NBA, or coached in some role at that level?
Oops. No, not now! I meant a phase out. 1 or 2 years. We probably learn more about his timed exit with Roberts’ replacement. I keep hearing Chris Beard’s name as a replacement for Self. Is this real? I like his abilities as a coach, but this is KU! Are we going to be able to keep our reputation for long coaching runs? I wonder if that will be possible moving forward!
It’s my opinion Bill’s staff will retire one at a time then Bill will announce. I don’t see a reason for him to stay.
To me, the most notable lefty was Langford. He brutalized defenders by driving to his left. I loved watching him play!
@approxinfinity said in The portal.:
@Kcmatt7 think i was incorrect about those guys. Jesus. All i did was ask google the ones i thought i recalled being lefties. Apparently Google really wanted to tell me “yes”. So much misinformation. Just looked at the youtube vids thx.
Probably searched for democrats! 
I heavily advise KU to hire me as a GM. I’m a people person with vast sales experience. I’ll go out there and find all those private NIL deals for our players that will not impact their school NIL cap. Every day we go without a GM we are missing out!
I’m uninformed on most of the NIL topic. Seems to me, the players who settled their NIL deals early this spring will probably be the big benefactors and the late players may be bought for a bargain and schools scrap to get late funds together. I’m thinking that creates a clash with those players in the draft process. And if those players exist later on should benefit by going to teams with talent for a late March run. I’m thinking Self’s recent portal failures where he jumped too quickly will now be a huge advantage as he sits patiently. This year we are changing our bumper sticker from “load the wagons” to “hold on, Hoss!” 
Can anyone comment on my fundraising questions?
It’s been a slow time. Is it slow for most of D1 right now? Are coaches and ADs spending much of their days fundraising? Are they promoting specific players and asking for funds for these players? If this is the case, are coaches picking players or are the decisions made by those contributing? Maybe we stay slow until the NBA draft?
We continue to look at historical stats and apply it as a definite outcome at KU. We should now know from the past years we need a more creative view to perceive players and if they fit at Kansas. We need to better understand the historical conditions that determined how players created their stats. This is a big part of calculating their fit at KU. Also… a very pointed interview with the players should also help project their success as a Jayhawk. At this point… I would avoid players who only have the gift to shoot treys. We need aggressive players that can drive and then shoot/pass. Players that can create their own offense. And if they historically only shoot 32% from trey, figure out offensive schemes that will maximize their efficiency.
@FarmerJayhawk what really rocks about this Recteq is the 22” circular top! It pretty much pairs up with all 22” Weber accessories! This is a huge factor because this Weber model has been around forever and popular! So many cool, functional affordable accessories!
@dylans I share your fear because of the last two years. But when I’m not hiding under the couch I feel better about this team (over the last two years). I’m expecting DP to start every half court possession much better than the last two years. I liked Juan but just felt he limited our offense. First thing to expect from DP… any team fall asleep getting back on defense will get burned in the open court. Any team not set well in the beginning of half court defense will get burned. Throughout the possession, as the year progresses we’ll experience DP blooming in off-ball playmaking. This is a guy who can score in all offensive areas. I believe he’ll be putting up 20+ per game. Flory actually has a fairly easy developmental year; learning to cue off of DP. It would be great if we could find another primo scorer, no doubt, and I think we will. Outside of NIL considerations, what a perfect setup for a wing player with big offense! I feel like adding one more elite player (that fits our system) turns us from a top-3 B12 team to a solid contender. To be a March contender we need considerable help… probably 2 elite players that fit and at least 2 good players off the bench, one should be either a big 5 capable of dominating the paint, or a 5/stretch 4 who can hold down the 5 or play with Flory and offer more offense than dunks.
@FarmerJayhawk an accessory to that Recteq was a griddle top. You can smoke while working the griddle. Another accessory was a top converting it to work like a pizza oven with a pizza stone surface.
@dylans Before I picked up this $65 used smoker, I only used an offset smoker and had to babysit it and it would still be inconsistent heat. Usually got too hot and my results were chewy!
So the last two years was a disaster. This year our strategy is to first go get the #1 player. He’s our bait along with NIL. So far, can’t say the recruit results are overwhelming but maybe Self learned his lesson by going after better fit players. Exactly, what are better fit players? We know it isn’t just looking at stats. Obviously, players have to have specific skills we need on the court. But we know we need more. We need fast learners. Perhaps players that have been coached up similar to Self’s style. We all heard the nightmare practice stories from last year… players never “got it!” Isn’t it possible we need Self and staff to adjust coaching down to a one-year strategy? I still have hopes this year that Self will produce late finds!
@dylans big green eggs are awesome for grilling. Never had one but constantly hear the love from owners. Thinking the biggest plus is it insulates heat inside? That Recteq model I mentioned above is quite the rig. It’s not super heavy duty though. I do think some of the other recteqs get pretty hot for searing and fast cooking. More heavy duty. The idea to go pellet is to gain constant heat temps for long periods, too. Some now have Wi-Fi and meat thermometers so you can watch your all night slow smokes from your bed. But you can also buy WiFi meat thermometers to do the same job. I wanted the specific Recteq because of the pizza possibilities. I’m used to a real wood pizza oven cooking at 900 degrees.
I was just informed of it closing last night. It’s the chicken place in north Wichita, right? Will they sell equipment?
Here’s my recent BBQ story. It started in February… I was in a Costco and there was a Traeger rep there, pushing their grills. For quite some time I wanted to try a pellet smoker. I was sick of using my offset smoker because I had to constantly watch it all day and then I couldn’t really control the heat so sometimes my results were dry and chewy.
I didn’t buy a grill that day but went home and started studying pellet grills. After days of reading and videos I decided on a Recteq RT-B380X Bullseye Deluxe grill. The name alone convinced me if I also needed a missile system to shoot at a pesty neighbor, this was the grill/M72 LAW rocket. These grills get up to 1000-degrees, so it is more than a slow smoker. I wanted it to be my “all-in-one” smoker/grill/pizza oven!
By the time I tricked out my grill I would have a grand in it. I signed up for emails on their site and received promo/sales material. Suddenly, they had a great sale and all their grills were heavily reduced EXCEPT the model I wanted! This pissed me off so I looked on FB Marketplace and bought one of those Masterbuilt electric upright smoke boxes (used but clean). I paid $65. I figured if I didn’t like it I could at least use it as a warming box when I have a crowd over to keep my cooked meats warm and the flies away. I then bought a $19 smoking chip cage to add more smoke inside the box.
I’ve had it for about 2 months now and I smoke everything! It’s awesome! The temp is very reliable and I’m able to do anything from a light smoking to heavy smoking. Still can’t do pizza, but I’ll live! It gets to about 450-degrees so I can cook in it but not really sear. I have other quick ways to do that.
I lend my services always for sampling BBQ!
You are spot on here. Self is being more careful to only look for players that fit in his scheme this time.
I feel comfortable that we get at least one more very solid starter piece.
Flory needs more offensive moves… but he’s going to rack up good numbers regardless. This year he will be starting and counted on… that means everything to him. He will rack up numbers just by hustling more. I don’t see him as NBA ready for quite some time. But he’ll have plenty of NIL money to bide his time and develop. If he’s smart, he’ll do it in college instead of being traded every other week in developmental ball at the next level.
@TYOHawk Wow… just watched Stokes. In some states he could be arrested for molesting the rim like that!
I’m with you. Let next year be a “Self tribute” year and let Self SMASH THE F*CK out of college basketball! Lets put an exclamation point on college basketball. Lets show Duke how to get the job done with star freshmen!
Go on, Bill… show college basketball how its done!
For the first time I now watched tape on Council. Thought I was watching TT. It doesn’t appear that he can finish with his left hand. His jump shot is like TTs first 3 years… shuffling his feet and not establishing his lower body form. TT went to shooters camp before his senior year and started to correct his form. To me, he looks like a 6th man candidate. Maybe his defense can earn him more PT.
I’ll take a guard tandem that drives the ball and scores any day over a couple of perimeter shooters. All it takes is trey shooters getting cold to lose games. I’d rather not count on the trey and then take it when its there. Penetrating guards are the guys who stir up the defense and create scoring space for others. It also earns us plenty at the charity stripe and puts defenses in foul trouble. Another thing it does… rarely discussed… it exhausts all those non-contact-playing guards who then suddenly can’t hit their treys.
@dylans said in The portal.:
All I know is there is a big push to get as much money right now before the ruling on NCAA direct payments puts a salary cap on it. Basically breaking the salary cap before it’s in place. More loopholes to come…
It seems like that new rule will be a big mess immediately. So I’m KU and we only have $2 mil left in our legal kitty fund. Won’t we contact a corp with big pockets (cough… cough… Adidas) and have them make up the difference with a private NIL package for the guy we want to sign? Private NIL is unlimited and will remain unlimited!
Gosh… is this another one of those KU-Adidas situations where the NCAA smells trouble so they just investigate us again for a decade and then come up with nothing?
Sooooo… we are all sitting on our hands, awaiting news on our portal grabs or even possibly having 2 #1 picks playing on the same team next year.
I read where most of the guys in the portal are still there. What a friggin’ zoo!
Are people in here optimistic or pessimistic on our current situation? Seems like there is plenty of negativity out there, but I’m usually suspicious of it being purple kitty trolls. They should be focused on their own transfer problems.
To me, it feels like we are in the running for some good players and Self is being more careful and refined this year to attempt to have a better result than last year. I’d like to know where our NIL budget sits right now. Anyone have a clue?
Will be interesting to see how Storr does next year and compare his last 3 seasons with KU in the middle.
@BeddieKU23 said in The portal.:
If he was healthy there would be more to talk about with him. Unfortunately, he came to KU early from the HS ranks still recovering from a major ankle injury
Just recently I visited AFH and read what was on the Phog Allen statue… “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” 
@Texas-Hawk-10 said in The portal.:
I really enjoy how good of a passer he is in his highlights. He can create some pretty crazy passing angles and find lanes that shouldn’t be there. Him and DP in a little two man game would be insane.
My thought exactly. Let DP create off the ball sometimes…
I’m sure you are spot on. And since he usually likes that 1:2:2, like @Texas-Hawk-10 mentioned, it definitely requires some practice.
I’ll take my NIL in Freddy’s burgers! 
Good zone takes practice, like any other defense. And it plays out differently depending on what players are on the floor. I like our 1-2-2 sometimes.
DEFENSE - if you ask Self what his calling card is, he would say his focus is defense.
Is it realistic for Kansas to only play M2M? It’s always seems to be effective when we sometimes flip to a zone when our M2M isn’t cutting it. Self always mentions they barely practice zone or don’t.
Should we practice more zone and use it more? Isn’t it a multi-year education process to learn M2M? When was the last time our guys fought hard to get out in front of picks and not switch?
I saw Frank last summer, in Wichita. Thinking maybe it was during the 3-on-3. He looked very fit. It was right before he signed on an Italian league team. He’s skipped around on Int’l ball. Latest I know of is a Puerto Rican team.
I feel comfortable in saying he’d like to be back in the Midwest with a paid gig or earn his way on someone’s staff, even if it isn’t KU.
@MR11 said in The portal.:
@BShark IDK if this is included in that 3 million but honestly assumed most of his NIL money was coming directly from Adidas with them nudging him to KU.
How does that work? That 3 mil wouldn’t come out of the KU NIL pot, right? I’m guessing that is private NIL.
@nuleafjhawk ha! I’m laughing! Think how much NIL you can score in the portal when you still have 2 or 3 years of eligibility left?
I’m still confused on how NIL is used… especially when it comes to enticing players to come here. I know schools are paying NIL and that is about to have caps to it. But then there is private NIL and that’s unlimited. For example… Flory has a deal with Freddy’s. And when he decided to stay here I saw several posts thanking Freddy’s. It seems to me… it’s the contracted school NIL used to get players here and then once they are here their private NIL might help keep them here? If someone knows more on this, please post it!
It looks like our coaches are fine with just having one year players now. So every year moving forward we may only have 1 or 2 guys returning. We’ve never been known as a system built for one year players. Anyone know if our coaching style is adapting now to this situation? How do we prevent outcomes like the last two years? Seems pie-in-the-sky to think we can just recruit enough to find the promised land!
So Diggy is gone to Maryland… any other of our last bunch committed? Seems like some might try to return to KU. I wonder if each are welcome back?
Yeah… you and me both… and every D1 school! Wish he was out there. Ballard does not have the presence of Doke… but we are picking through bones.
I’m sure to get some hate for this… but here goes…
What about snagging Quincy Ballard? He’s listed at 6’11" and he is every bit of that. I believe he is over 7’. I’ve met him several times. He’s “besties” with my son (sort of).
First… surely he can be landed with a minimum hit on NIL. I read where WSU is upside down in NIL now.
Second… though he is limited to shots under the basket, pretty much like Flory, he’s a solid post presence. His numbers were pretty good on a team that struggle to breath oxygen last year.
If we every wanted to “play big” the combo of him with Flory would be nuts. Give our coaching staff a lesson in low post screens. They could use it regardless if we landed him or not. I’ve been pretty amazed this year how many college post players set low post screens for driving guards… something KU has NEVER DONE! Imagine a beast like Ballard setting a single or double low post screen for a driving Peterson!
I know on paper we need a big who can stretch the floor. I’m not convinced those guys are out there and I’m getting pretty sick of running offense for bigs bricking up treys. I still feel like the biggest mistake we made the last two years was playing Hunter at the top of the key.
Okay… I’m done… blast away on my post!
@approxinfinity said in The portal.:
@drgnslayr yeah. I am amazed watching them rebound. Its beautiful. When a shot goes up, layers of guys fold in from the sides and half the distance to the opposing player who isnt trying as hard. Some possessions i became suspicious that they seemed to care less about making the shot than rebounding… just throw it toward the rim and someone will get it!
YES! When I was 10 years old I wore a mouthguard in league play. I love how Houston actually puts effort into rebounding. Almost any other school who claims to do the same… bs… after watching Houston really do it.
What a tough loss. Florida was tough, too!
No doubt they are well rounded. But look at that Duke game. They had 18 ORs on the tallest team in the nation! And for the game they had 11 total rebs more than Duke.
I bet if they can create 18 ORs on Florida tonight they will take home the trophy!
@msanchez said in The portal.:
I’d much rather watch a team full of solid, versatile, gritty, physical & athletic players who can all handle the ball and score — not just stand around while the system runs through a couple of ‘go-to’ guys.
This is my opinion exactly. We have to have players that can easily create for themselves.
Look at last season… we only had two players capable of creating their own shots… Hunter and Zeke. And Zeke was undersized, so often had to back out on his shot.
KJ drove me nuts. For a while in the season before this one he was comfortable hitting that baby 12-footer in the paint. This past year, he missed a few then lost all confidence. Teams were giving it to him and he wouldn’t take it most of the time.
Griffen was a catch and shoot. He wasn’t open enough or we’d pass it to him at his knees and then he’d take a shot with no flow.
AJ… I’m not sure what his strength was. His long ball shooting form was odd, but he could hit an open shot sometimes. Then he was asked to drive and it looked awkward. Down the stretch I give him credit for trying.
Juan… only created when he was forced to. That’s not the attitude you need from your PG.
We shot so few FTs. But this group of guys were never able to accel at playing beyond their comfort zones.
I’m convinced we need better coaching. I’m not talking about Self… just his cling-ons.
The ONLY reason why Houston is in the finals is because of their offensive rebounding. Sampson explained how he put a lid on the goal and made these guys fight it out in every practice. Why aren’t we doing that? What else is he doing to get his lower-ranked players to step up?
It does start with recruiting. I’m so sick of having anemic teams incapable of playing physical. Recruit some bruisers… But then, they need to be coached up in how to use their brawn.
I’m thinking the NCAA ruling will be coming down soon and schools have $20.5 - $23.1 million for internal NIL. That is separate $$$ from individual player NIL earnings. I wonder what Flory is earning on his individual NIL earnings? I know he started a nice deal with Freddy’s. I wonder if that deal stipulates he has to stay at KU?
My thoughts on Flory… if we had a quality GM… none of this was necessary. They could have renegotiated his NIL contract and he would never have to be in this mess. He would have received a big bump in his money and would have kept his Jayhawk family love in perfect shape. It also makes his image look like he isn’t all about money, which might help him at the next level. Maybe I’m wrong… maybe players need to get out there and get offers to determine their best money.
There is something to that. And it’s not all about NIL and the portal. I think some of it is the times and youth are not into traditions like they used to be.
@BShark I think most of us were in love with his upside. We haven’t always come out great living on a dream.
His upside was defense and rebounding.
On offense… realistically… he could go from being effective at 3-feet (dunks) to being effective around 7 to 8-feet.
I think we really liked the contrast he showed comparing him to Hunter. What would have to be addressed this coming year is all the offense we lose by losing Hunter!
Heard Zion’s brother is still available -
https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/gtunln/bodybuilder_basketball_player/