Trey Kaufman-Renn committed to Kansas this week after receiving a court injunction that deemed him eligible to play college basketball for the time being. He's currently enrolled in classes at the university and practicing with the rest of the squad.
There were already questions about how head coach Bill Self would divvy up minutes on this loaded roster, but Kaufman-Renn's arrival complicates things even more. Assuming he sticks around with the program for the remainder of the season, another expected starter will have to move out of the opening group to make room for him.
The good thing is that there are so many combinations the coaching staff can try early in the season to determine what works and what doesn't. That will especially hold true if the team's three late offseason additions don't have their court rulings reversed and remain with the Jayhawks all year.
With Kaufman-Renn now in Lawrence, here's the projected five fans can expect to see, at least by midseason.
Kansas Basketball's New Potential Starting Lineup
Guard | Guard | Forward | Forward | Forward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Melvin Council Jr. | Tre White | Tyran Stokes | Keanu Dawes | Trey Kaufman-Renn |
It's important to keep in mind with these predictions that they may not come to fruition until everyone is fully up to speed. It's likely that two or three of these players won't be in the first unit when the regular season kicks off on Nov. 2 against Fordham.
Although this feels like the millionth time we've had to update the Jayhawks' starting five, it has been a particularly unusual offseason for the program. KU brought back Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. in addition to acquiring Kaufman-Renn, all within the span of four weeks.
In KU's first exhibition of the preseason, White and Council came off the bench since they had just rejoined the team. Taylen Kinney and Leroy Blyden Jr. manned the backcourt in their place. They are in a difficult spot because most fans thought they were sure-fire starters for months.
There was a lot of talk about whether KU could play small and run Keanu Dawes at small-ball center, even in short spurts. But with Kaufman-Renn expected to fill the final forward spot, that may no longer be necessary, as the size of Dawes (6-foot-9, 225 pounds and Kaufman-Renn (6-foot-9, 240 pounds) provides plenty of rebounding and length for Self to feel comfortable using that group against traditional big men.
The biggest dilemma here is that Self has emphasized his desire to run four perimeter players together. While Dawes and Kaufman-Renn are both capable of stepping out to the 3-point line when needed, this group could be pretty clunky from a spacing standpoint. Council's 29.1% lifetime percentage from beyond the arc doesn't inspire much confidence in the offense, either.
It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Kinney or Blyden Jr. slotted in somewhere to provide more perimeter scoring, though that would mean removing Council from the picture, which feels highly unlikely given that he started every game and averaged 34.8 minutes per contest a season ago.
Not only is this one of the best starting fives in the country, but Self also has an entire five-man group he can stagger into the rotation to spell the starters and give the Jayhawks different looks. Regardless of which players tip off games, there should be a lot more variety and bench usage than what we've seen in recent years.
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