The Kansas Jayhawks have a problem. It’s a problem every coach in the country would love to have, and how much of a problem it actually is can certainly be put up for debate. But even enviable problems can become major issues if not dealt with properly, and the circumstances surrounding this one make it even thornier.
Kansas is playing a high-risk game by burying 5-star freshman Cheick Diallo
There are no easy answers to Kansas’ front court puzzle.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Kansas’ front court has six players deserving of minutes on any high-major team. There are only two spots on the floor for them. It’s a mix that includes four veterans who average 4.5 years of Division I experience between them. There are also two freshmen who arrived at the program more highly touted than any of their elders.
Right now, senior power forward Perry Ellis is the Jayhawks’ one mainstay, playing 29.3 minutes per game. Ellis is leading the team in scoring for the second year in a row, and is currently No. 8 on KenPom’s watch list of national player of the year candidates. He’s improved as a shooter this year too, knocking down 56.5 percent of the 23 threes he’s attempted. He’s also one of the team’s most limited athletes and arguably the worst defensive player of the front court lot.
For Bill Self, the regular season should be about figuring out which player complements Ellis’ skill set the best when next to him, and also which combination can give the team a lift when Ellis needs a breather. If only it were that simple.
From a scouting perspective, freshman Cheick Diallo seems to be the guy best equipped for the role. Diallo is long (7’4 wingspan), incredibly fast and should be a buzzsaw defensively. He was ESPN’s No. 7 overall recruit and a projected one-and-done NBA lottery pick before the season started. Then the NCAA made him sit out the first five games and he hasn’t been able to carve out a consistent role since.
As Kansas fell to No. 11 West Virginia on the road on Wednesday, Diallo played single-digit minutes for the sixth straight game. It’s easy to criticize Self for burying Diallo the same way he often buried last year’s five-star freshman, Cliff Alexander, but that ignores a couple major factors swirling around the Jayhawks this year. Namely:
- Kansas is going for its 12th straight Big 12 regular season title, something no coach has ever accomplished in the history of college basketball. And oh yeah: the Big 12 is loaded again this year. Oklahoma is one of the best teams in the country, West Virginia looks like a legitimate top 10 team and Iowa State and Baylor are viable contenders, too.
- Ellis will be gone next year. So will fellow front court mainstays Hunter Mickelson and Jamari Traylor, who are both fifth-year seniors. If Kansas gives big minutes to Diallo over Mickelson, Traylor and junior Landen Lucas, there’s a good chance Diallo puts his name in the NBA draft and leaves Kansas shorthanded next season. Of course, he could still do that anyway regardless of his playing time this year.
Throw in fellow freshman Carlton Bragg, the No. 21 overall recruit in his class, and you can see how Self is in a pickle. No one is going to cry for him for having too many good players, but this is an issue that requires tough decisions.
After Diallo missed valuable time at the beginning of the season, he might not be ready for minutes in the heat of conference season when KU is going for history. But if Self doesn’t get Diallo ready for tournament time, he’s putting regular season accomplishments and next season’s outlook ahead of title chances for this year’s team. You don’t want one of your most talented players rotting away on the bench in the NCAA Tournament because you didn’t play him enough in conference play.
Diallo fell all the way to No. 28 on Chad Ford’s latest NBA draft big board after being a consensus lottery pick up to this point. Ford wrote: “Diallo has been horrible for Kansas in the early going, and unlike with (Kentucky’s Skal) Labissiere, scouts can’t point to a skill that would be unleashed in a different system.”
That sounds fine, but it’s not exactly true. Here are the per-40 minute numbers of Kansas’ six front court players this year:
| Points | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Assists | True shooting percentage | |
| Perry Ellis | 22.3 | 9.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 57.8 |
| Landen Lucas | 14.1 | 14.3 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 64.1 |
| Jamari Traylor | 8.7 | 10 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 62.8 |
| Hunter Mickelson | 12.9 | 11.6 | 5.1 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 55.8 |
| Carlton Bragg | 16.1 | 10.3 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 57.6 |
| Cheick Diallo | 21.1 | 11.6 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 57.5 |
Diallo holds up well there. He’s also shown flashes of his immense talent in limited minutes. Both offensively ...
And defensively:
Yes, Kansas -- still currently No. 1 in the polls -- is one of the best teams in America. Perhaps they can win the Big 12 regular season title and the national championship without Diallo. Maybe Diallo returns for his sophomore year and Kansas is loaded again next season with Wayne Selden, Frank Mason and Devonte’ Graham all back.
But it’s also easy to see how this burns Kansas. Mickelson, Traylor and Lucas are fine players, but none of them are nearly as talented as Diallo. Isn’t it worth it to give Diallo and Ellis some minutes together to see if that’s your best pairing against the elite competition you’ll see in the NCAA Tournament? Isn’t it worth it to try out the Diallo-Bragg pairing that maximizes your athleticism?
There’s another issue at play, too. Kansas, which has signed six five-recruits over the last three seasons, only has one recruit signed for this next class: power forward Mitch Lightfoot, who is ranked in the 80s by ESPN. The Jayhawks are in on five-star center Marques Bolden, another potential one-and-done stud. But will Bolden really choose Lawrence after seeing what happened to Alexander and now Diallo?
When the NCAA was forcing Diallo to sit out, #FreeDiallo became a rallying cry for Kansas fans. It was held up on signs at every game and was all over social media. Now it’s not the NCAA keeping Diallo out of games, but his own head coach. Maybe it will work out, maybe it won’t. One thing is for sure: there isn’t an easy solution at hand.
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