UNLV basketball plays Kansas on Nov. 17.
Among the Jayhawks facing Josh Pastner's Rebels will be former Purdue standout Trey Kaufman-Renn, who signed with Kansas after being receiving a sixth season of college basketball through a temporary restraining order he was granted in September.
A first-team All-Big Ten pick last season, Kaufman-Renn was drafted No. 59 overall in the second round by the Timberwolves in the 2026 NBA Draft and played in the NBA Summer League — in Las Vegas, in front of Pastner.
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"First of all, I love Bill Self. One of the greatest coaches ever in the history of mankind to coach, OK? Love him... However, I do believe that in my personal opinion, if you were drafted and you were playing in the Summer League here, and I watched you play, you shouldn’t play college basketball. I think your expiration date’s over," Pastner told reporters Friday.
"It’s nothing against Trey Kaufman-Renn because I think he’s really, really good. And I don’t know him as a young man, and I love Bill Self, and I love their staff, and I think they’re a great pro. This isn’t a Trey Kaufman-Renn deal, this is just a general deal. I think if you played in the NBA Summer League, and I was sitting in the stands watching and you’re playing double-digit minutes, and you’re playing in that and your name was called in the draft, and/or even if your name wasn’t called in the draft, but you played in this NBA Summer League, to me that should automatically expire you from, expel you from playing college basketball. That would be my viewpoint... I think the Summer League should be the disqualification more than anything else. That’s it."
UNLV will face former pro Trey Kaufman-Renn and Kansas on Nov. 17.
— COFIELD (@stevecofield) October 23, 2026
Runnin Rebels HC reacts to the Big 12 ignoring its "no pros" rule for Bill Self and the Jayhawks. pic.twitter.com/s801hCx44v
Kaufman-Renn redshirted as a freshman during the 2021-22 season after suffering an injury and played 147 games in four seasons for the Boilermakers. The 6-9 forward is one of three Kansas players currently eligible this season due to court order, joining former Kansas guards Tre White and Melvin Council Jr., starters from last season's team.
"If we don't play with them, we're gonna play against them," Self said at Big 12 Media Day. "All I want to do, within the guidelines of what's been set: how do we get our best team together? That's it. There's no disruption."
Kaufman-Renn didn’t play in Wednesday's exhibition game against Louisville, and Self noted he didn’t have a defined timeline for when Kaufman-Renn would first appear for the Jayhawks. Jordan Guskey of the Topeka Capital-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, wrote the anticipation is Kaufman-Renn would at least be good to go for the start of the regular season.
"The judge granted it, and when we play Kansas, he’s going to be playing, and we’ll have to prepare for him," Pastner said. "And he’s one of the best players in all of college basketball. He’ll be a stud all season long.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Josh Pastner drops blunt verdict on Kansas' Trey Kaufman-Renn: 'Expiration date’s over'