Kansas forward Jalen Wilson (10) roars after fouling Creighton during the second half on Saturday, March 19, 2022, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The Jayhawks advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 79-72 win over the Bluejays.
by Nick Krug
The 247 Sports network recently ranked the best forwards in college basketball entering the 2022-23 season and Bill Self’s defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks ranked first.
A case could probably be made for a couple of other schools to sit in that top spot, but the Jayhawks are certainly worthy.
With seasoned veterans Jalen Wilson and Kevin McCullar Jr. leading the charge, Kansas has at least four wing depths with versatile options that possess a variety of strengths.
Five-star freshmen Gradey Dick and MJ Rice join the two seniors as KU’s top picks at the job, and it could be argued that KU’s best lineup this coming season will have those four. players in it.
Time will tell if that’s true or not, but all four will play a big role for Kansas and three of the four will likely be in the starting lineup on opening night.
Much of this you probably knew. Much of this is probably what excites you most about the 2022-23 season.
With that in mind, there was something about 247’s list of the 20 programs with the best forwards in college basketball that caught my eye beyond KU’s No. 1 spot.
Only two of the next 19 spots in Isaac Trotter’s rankings were filled by Big 12 programs: Texas at No. 10 and Oklahoma State at No. 19.
As the game of basketball increasingly transitions toward positionless players in prominent roles and interchangeable parts dominating lineups at every level, teams that are built like this 2022-23 Kansas team could end up having an advantage. significant over their opponents due to the ability to create and manage matchup issues and fill the lineup with two-way players whose roles and impact remain fluid from possession to possession.
Consider Wilson for a minute and think of all the things you’ve seen him do as Jayhawk.
He has had possessions where he played off the ball in a catch-and-shoot role. He has had possessions where he started the offense the way a true point guard would and other possessions where he attacks from the dribble as a scorer in the same role. He’s had possessions where he defends the 4 on one end, hits the glass like a power forward to get the rebound and then pushes it down the floor like a guard.
And it’s just a player. McCullar, Dick and Rice all play the same way, with different strengths, and the fact that KU can have three or four of those types of players on the floor at any one time certainly makes the Jayhawks a tough matchup. We saw that in 2021-22 with Wilson teaming with Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun for most minutes during KU’s run to the national title.
Forward MJ Rice waits for play to resume during the team’s scrimmage at the annual Bill Self basketball camp on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, at Allen Fieldhouse.
by Emma Pravecek/Journal-World Photo
Having to account for that kind of skill set puts pressure on opposing teams and coaches to match. And unless they’re equipped with versatile wings in the same way, that can lead to mismatches. Self’s teams have always been great at exploiting them and he often trains, and builds his rosters, to play with them.
If this really is the direction the game is going, and if the rest of the Big 12 aren’t there yet, at least according to 247 Sports ratings, that might be the best example yet of why Kansas still needs to be. considered the team to beat in the conference during the 2022-23 season.
TCU and Oklahoma made Trotter’s honorable mention list in the article, but he’s still not even half of the rest of the league.
Texas and Baylor, along with TCU, should be KU’s biggest challengers for the Big 12 title of 2023, but if they want to finish ahead of Kansas, they may have to find a place to gain advantages other than on the wing.
Including honorable mention picks, Trotter’s list includes teams Kansas will face at least 10 times during the 2022-23 season.