Rock Chalk On: An early look at the Kansas Jayhawks roster for the 2022-23 season

The Kansas University Jayhawks are coming off a 2022 National Championship win against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The Jayhakws came back from a 16-point lead by the Tar Heels and beat them 72-69 on April 4. 

Celebrations have been going on all week long from parties the night of the game to the championship parade down Mass. Ave. in Lawrence on April 10. Although Jayhawk fans will remember this moment for years to come, it’s time for head coach Bill Self and Kansas to get back to work. Before doing this, he needs to figure out what exactly he has to work with. 

KU is expected to lose six seniors to graduation: Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack, Remy Martin, Jalen Coleman-Lands, Mitch Lightfoot and Chris Tehan. Although Agbaji and McCormack are both eligible to accept the NCAA’s offer for an extra season of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they will most likely enter the 2022 NBA Draft.

According to ESPN, junior Christian Braun and sophomore Jalen Wilson haven’t made any decisions yet, but it’s extremely likely that they both enter their names in the 2022 NBA Draft. If they decide to do so, they most likely won’t sign with an agent, allowing them to return for another year. Wilson went through this process last year as well as Agbaji. This process worked out extremely well for each of them as they’ve seen great improvement: Agbaji returned for his senior year and became an All-American and Wilson averaged five more points per game than he did last year. 

Sophomore point guard Dajuan Harris is expected to return to Kansas next year and fill a huge role as Kansas’ lead guard. Junior Joseph Yesufu, a transfer from Drake University, is also eligible to return. 

Senior forward Cameron Martin is expected to return for his final season of college basketball. 

Freshmen always have an important decision to make: enter the transfer portal or return to their school for their sophomore year. KU has four freshmen that are eligible to return: Bobby Pettiford, Kyle Cuffe, Zachary Clemence and KJ Adams. Self thinks that Pettiford can be the “next great” guard at KU. 

Kansas’ walk-ons Charlie McCarthy, Dillon Wilhite and Michael Jankovich will be returning to KU. 

KU has signed a talented class of recruits to join the program for the 2022-23 season. KU has signed three McDonald’s All-Americans: Gradey Dick (Gatorade Player of the Year), Ernet Udeh and MJ Rice. They also signed Zuby Ejiofor. Dick is expected to lead Kansas in the 2022-23 season along with Harris. Udeh, Rice and Ejofor will all fill roles for Kansas.

The NCAA has a 13-player scholarship limit, which Kansas has already filled. If the Jayhawks want to add more players, they’ll need players currently on the roster to declare for the NBA draft or transfer.