Who are the others?
As the start of Kansas basketball season nears, coach Bill Self has a busy few weeks ahead. On the to-do list, Self needs to figure out his rotation and decide who will redshirt for this team. “I don’t know exactly how it’s going to play out, but I think so,” Self said when asked about players redshirting. “Flory (Bidunga) obviously won’t. I’m not saying Rakease (Passmore) will at all, but at least freshmen get to play in the exhibition games before you make that decision.”
The Jayhawks will play Arkansas in an exhibition game on Oct. 25, then face Washburn on Oct. 29. For Self, it’ll be worth monitoring how the freshmen (Bidunga and Passmore) perform in the exhibition matchups. Returning players, Self noted, cannot play in the exhibitions and still redshirt, unless it’s for medical reasons. “If anybody doesn’t play against Arkansas, don’t read into it that they are definitely redshirting,” Self cautioned. “Read into it that we probably haven’t made a decision yet on how much they can actually help us this particular year based on what our needs are.”
In the meantime, some players’ roles are already forming. Bidunga will play some minutes off the bench and will compete for the backup center role to Hunter Dickinson. Big man Zach Clemence redshirted last season and will not this year; he anticipates playing at multiple spots. Kansas guard Elmarko Jackson tore his patellar tendon over the summer and will miss the 2024-25 season—he will be a medical redshirt. Meanwhile, Rice transfer Noah Shelby will be a walk-on and previously stated he plans to redshirt this season, having two years of eligibility remaining.
Kansas also recently added senior David Coit, but don’t expect him to redshirt; Self praised his ball-handling capabilities and confidence. Coit has shot 35.4% from deep for his career, a valuable skill as the team tries to form a rotation around star big man Dickinson.
So who are the remaining redshirt candidates? Passmore and sophomore guard Jamari McDowell could make the most sense. Passmore, a freshman guard, was a top-50 prospect in the 2024 class and chose KU over finalists LSU and Oklahoma. He averaged 19.4 points and 5.6 rebounds for Combine Academy. He told The Star he doesn’t know his role yet but has clear expectations from the coaching staff: “Defense, rebound, make open shots, lock somebody up,” he said. “(I’m) a straight dog, straight dog. Make sure you put that in bold letters.”
McDowell is coming off a freshman season that showed promise. Last season, he came off the bench and averaged 1.8 points in 7.2 minutes per game. He is optimistic about his sophomore season. “It’s going to be a great year, I’m excited,” he told The Star. “I put in a lot of work. … I don’t feel like there’s anything particular in my game that’s just like, ‘He’s just a shooter. He can only pass or rebound.’ I do everything. I can literally do anything. … “I might only be 6-4 — I’m claiming 6-5 — but I can play one through four if I had to. … I feel like (I’m) a Swiss army knife.”
Asked if he had any thoughts of redshirting, McDowell simply replied, “Nah.” He added that he doesn’t know his role yet but has taken a “leadership position” due to the influx of Kansas newcomers. “I feel like I’ve been more competitive this year because there is more competition,” McDowell said. “Last year, we were practicing against the walk-ons. We had eight people on scholarship. Now, we have like 12 or something like that. “Iron sharpens iron. We get better every day.”
Leave a Reply