How will KU Jayhawks men’s basketball fare this season? Here are several predictions

ESPN.com continues to project Kansas’ men’s basketball team as a No. 1 seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

Analyst Joe Lunardi, who had KU, Gonzaga, UCLA and Michigan as No. 1 seeds in his bracketology issued on July 14, on Wednesday listed KU, Gonzaga, UCLA and Texas as his four No. 1s.

According to Lunardi, KU will meet Winthrop in the 1-16 game in the South Regional with the winner meeting the winner of an 8-9 game between LSU and Virginia Tech. Lunardi has No. 4 seed Houston as a possible Sweet 16 foe of KU and No. 2 Michigan or No. 3 Kentucky as a possible Elite Eight opponent.

Lunardi did not award a bid to Missouri, Kansas State or Wichita State. Six Big 12 teams were included in the field: KU and Texas, plus Baylor as a 3 seed, Texas Tech as a 7 seed, Oklahoma State an 8 and West Virginia a 9.

Two of the four teams that recently accepted invitations to join the Big 12 at a yet-to-be-determined date were accorded bids. Houston as a No. 4 seed and BYU as a 12.

Athlon Sports awards KU No. 3 ranking

Athlon Sports has ranked KU No. 3 in the country in its Top 25 preseason poll.

Gonzaga is No. 1 followed by UCLA, KU, Texas, Michigan, Duke, Villanova, Baylor, Kentucky, Arkansas, Purdue, North Carolina, Oregon, Ohio State, Illinois, Houston, Florida State, Tennessee, Maryland, Alabama, UConn, USC, Virginia Tech, Michigan State and Auburn.

Of KU, Athlon wrote: “One of Bill Self’s most-used mottos with his teams in recent years has been this: “Players change, expectations don’t.”

The current group will test that again this season, as even after all the roster adjustments, KU finds itself in a familiar position heading into 2021-22: as a favorite to win the Big 12, with national title aspirations if things fall right in March.”

Indeed, Athlon predicts KU will win the Big 12 regular-season league title and advance to the 2022 Final Four.

Blue Ribbon Yearbook says KU No. 3

Kansas also checks in at No. 3 in Blue Ribbon Yearbook’s preseason poll. Gonzaga is followed by UCLA, KU, Texas, Villanova, Michigan, Kentucky, Duke, Purdue, Tennessee, Memphis, Baylor, Arkansas, Florida State, Alabama, North Carolina, Houston, Illinois, Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan State, Auburn, Maryland, Mississippi State and St. Bonaventure.

Of KU, Blue Ribbon Yearbook’s staff wrote: ”The (transfer) portal was good to the Jayhawks. To an experienced lineup that includes center David McCormack, guards Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun and wing Jalen Wilson, Kansas blends in a big-time point guard KU found in the portal — former Arizona State star Remy Martin, the kind of breakdown guy the Jayhawks didn’t have a year ago. The Pac-12’s top scorer last season, Martin was even better (21.5 ppg) in conference play. He was a three-time all-Pac-12 choice and a first-team selection the last two seasons. As a freshman, he was voted co-Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year. Martin’s four 30-point performances last season were the most in the conference, as were his 12 games with 20 or more points.

“The portal also provided athletic guard Joseph Yesufu from Drake and Jalen Coleman-Lands, a 6-4 shooter who’s on his fourth college stop having played at Illinois, DePaul, and Iowa State previously. Last season Coleman-Lands scored 20 in both Iowa-State Kansas games.”

Remy Martin deemed impact transfer

Remy Martin of KU has been ranked the No. 1 impact transfer in the entire country entering the 2021-22 season by 247sports.com.

“It was a tough choice for No. 1 because Carr (Marcus, who left Minnesota for Texas) and Martin are difficult to separate,” writes Kevin Flaherty of 247sports.com. “Carr will likely have more burden from a creative standpoint. Martin may be better defensively and finish as a more efficient player. Martin has averaged 19.1 points per game over each of the last two seasons, though he could be closer to the player who averaged 5.0 assists per game as a sophomore with more scoring options around him. One part that could see more action? Martin was an excellent catch-and-shoot threat this past season at Arizona State and could get more opportunities in that area with Kansas’ ball movement, rather than shooting so much off the dribble. Martin was a first-team all-Pac-12 pick with the Sun Devils, and he’s stepping into a great situation for his talents.”

Kevin Obanor, a forward who has transferred from Oral Roberts to Texas Tech is No. 3 impact transfer. James Akinjo, a guard who moved from Arizona to Baylor is No. 7 transfer

Kentucky recruiting class is No. 1 right now

Kentucky, which received an oral commitment from Chris Livingston on Wednesday, has the top-ranked recruiting Class of 2022 according to both Rivals.com and 247sports.com.

Livingston, a 6-7, 220-pound senior forward from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, is ranked No. 5 player nationally by 247sports.com and No. 8 by Rivals.com. Kentucky has also landed commitments from Shaedon Sharpe, a 6-4, 180-pound senior shooting guard from Dream City Christian in Glendale, Arizona (No. 1 Rivals.com and 247sports.com) as well as Skyy Clark, a 6-2, 200 senior from Montverde Academy in Florida (No. 18 by 247sports.com and No. 21 Rivals.com).

Rivals.com ranks Kentucky’s class No. 1 at this time, followed by Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA. 247sports.com lists Kentucky No. 1, followed by North Carolina, Duke, Ohio State and KU.

KU was previously ranked No. 2 recruiting class by Rivals.com and 247sports.com following the commitment of MJ Rice on Aug. 10. KU also has landed Gradey Dick and Zuby Ejiofor.

Rice, a 6-5, 200-pound senior from Prolific Prep in Napa, California is ranked No. 23 nationally by Rivals.com and No. 25 by 247sports.com. Dick, a 6-7, 195-pound senior forward from Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, is ranked No. 35 by 247sports.com and No. 37 by Rivals.com. Ejiofor, a 6-8, 220-pound senior forward from Garland (Texas) High School, is ranked No. 41 by 247sports.com and No. 47 by Rivals.com.

Bona visiting this weekend

Adem Bona, a 6-10, 210-pound senior forward from Prolific Prep in Napa, California, is expected to arrive for his weekend visit to KU on Friday.

Bona, who is ranked No. 10 in the recruiting Class of 2022 by 247sports.com and No. 33 according to Rivals.com, has a list of Kansas, Arizona State, Baylor, Kentucky, Miami, UCLA, and USC. He also says he will consider playing in Australia’s pro league as an alternative to college.

A native of Nigeria, Bona will visit Baylor on Sept. 24-26, Kentucky on Oct. 1-3 and UCLA on Oct. 22-24. He also likely will visit Miami and Arizona State according to on3.com.

Bona — he ranked first in rebounds per game in the EYBL AAU league this summer (11.0) and was in second in blocks per contest (4.0) for Team Why Not — averaged 12.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks while hitting 25 of 32 shots (78..1%) at the prestigious Peach Jam in South Carolina.

Bona scored 15 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked eight shots in a 71-69 loss to Nightrydas at Peach Jam.

“Kansas has been one of the top colleges for the past years in the NCAA. They’ve put so many bigs in the league like Joel Embiid and Udoka Azubuike. They are bigs just like me. They started basketball late. They played high school, went to Kansas and improved their basketball skills. And I feel like Kansas is going to prepare me well for the pros,” Bona told Zagsblog.com.