3 intriguing newcomers to keep an eye on as Kansas basketball’s season opener nears

LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball has a trio of returning starters that will make its lineup formidable all on itself.

There’s graduate center Hunter Dickinson, the preseason Big 12 Conference player of the year and member of the All-Big 12 first team. There’s graduate guard Dajuan Harris Jr., a preseason All-Big 12 second team honoree who started for the Jayhawks’ national championship team in 2022. There’s senior forward KJ Adams Jr., who was also on the national championship team that year.

But Kansas head coach Bill Self also added a host of newcomers, both from the high school ranks and through the transfer portal. All will factor into the goals the Jayhawks are trying to achieve this season, in one way or another. There are three, though, that will be especially intriguing to follow as the season opener nears.

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AJ Storr, junior guard

AJ Storr may not have made it onto one of the two preseason, All-Big 12 teams. The junior guard might not have been picked as the favorite to be the newcomer of the year. But he earned all-conference honors at St. John’s a couple of seasons ago and at Wisconsin last season, and he has the potential to do it again this season.

There’s no doubt Storr can score, as he led Wisconsin with 16.8 points per game last season. What’s next for him is where he can expand his game from there. If he can defend and rebound at the level he scores, he’ll give Kansas another all-league caliber player.

Zeke Mayo, senior guard

Zeke Mayo has garnered a lot of praise over the course of the offseason. The senior guard, who’s from Lawrence, has the potential to make his year playing for his hometown college a great one. And it would build on all the success he has already enjoyed at this level.

Mayo transferred in from South Dakota State, where he earned recognition as the Summit League player of the year last season. He’s won conference titles, and reached NCAA tournaments. He can help Kansas do both this season.

Flory Bidunga, freshman forward

Flory Bidunga arrived on campus as a 247Sports Composite five-star prospect, and one of the top 20 players of the 2024 recruiting class. He thrived playing high school basketball in the state of Indiana. The freshman forward has the chance to carve out some type of role with the Jayhawks this season.

Bidunga’s path to the court could have a lot to do with whether he can share it with Dickinson. Kansas will have a couple of exhibition games against Arkansas and Washburn later this month to test out how it could all look before the season begins in November. Regardless, over the course of the season if he lives up to his potential he could be hard to keep off of the court.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball has AJ Storr, Zeke Mayo, Flory Bidunga this season