Kansas basketball has always been one of the most prolific college programs when it comes to producing NBA talents. Whenever a prospect decides to take his talents to Lawrence, his chances of making it to the NBA appear to be higher than if he chose another school to play for.

But what exactly are the qualities Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self is typically looking for in a recruit?

“I look for explosiveness. Can they shoot? If he can really shoot, you can teach him how to score. If you’re really explosive, you can teach them how to defend,” Self tells CJ Moore of The Athletic.”You can teach them how to get their shoulders past someone. There’s a lot of things, if you have those two things, that apply to becoming a good player that would translate on any level.”

Over the last several years, Kansas basketball has seen several of its players go on to have good to great careers in the NBA. Kelly Oubre of the Charlotte Hornets, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Andrew Wiggins of the Golden State Warriors are some of the most recent Jayhawks products who have made a name for themselves in the pros. There are also other Kansas basketball stars who haven't exactly panned out in the NBA but still managed to carve out multi-year careers in the league like Devonta Graham, Josh Jackson, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, and Thomas Robinson among others.

In the 2022-23 season, Kansas basketball is being led by stars Jalen Wilson and Gradey Dick who each have the potential to become NBA stars down the road.