Kansas basketball is working to shore up their roster. The Jayhawks are adding Mississippi State graduate transfer Shakeel Moore, per Through the Phog. This is after Kansas lost guard Elmarko Jackson for the year due to an injury.
Moore is also a guard, who averaged about 8 points a game last season for the Bulldogs. He is an experienced player. He has appeared in 124 games, playing for the Bulldogs and North Carolina State. He was on the roster last season for a Mississippi State team that made the NCAA tournament. Moore has averaged more than 23 minutes a game for the last three seasons.
What this season means for Kansas
Kansas basketball is rebuilding following a very disappointing season in 2023-24. The team made the NCAA tournament, but lost in the Round of 32. Kansas dealt with injuries to leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr., and leading rebounder Hunter Dickinson. The team just never found the right chemistry without them, and ended up losing more games in the Big 12 Conference than they had in more than 30 years.
The good news for Kansas is that Dickinson returns for another season. He is expected to be one of the best rebounders in the Big 12 this year. The Jayhawks also have point guard DaJuan Harris Jr. back, and have added a lot of talent from the transfer portal and high school ranks. Kansas is bringing in blue chip prospect center Flory Bidunga, who will join Dickinson in the front court. Bidunga just won MVP honors at an Indiana-Kentucky All-Stars game. Bidunga scored 31 points in the game, while adding 17 rebounds in that contest. Kansas should be able to immediately compete for another Big 12 championship with these twin towers in Dickinson and Bidunga.
There is some bad news. The program has lost Jackson for the season, due to a tear in his patellar tendon, per Through the Phog. Jackson is a former McDonalds All-American who was expected to play heavy minutes for the team this year. He had averaged four points a game in his first season in Lawrence. Moore will fill that void at guard in the Kansas basketball rotation.
How the Big 12 is changing this season
The Big 12 conference is changing this season, with four new teams entering the fold. They are Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. The league is now up to 16 teams, and will play a 20 game league season. The conference used to play 18 games, with a true round robin. That went away last year. Kansas coach Bill Self has said that the league will be as hard as it has ever been, with the new league schedule.
The league is also loaded with talented teams. The conference could have as many as five or even six teams in the top 10 of the pre-season college basketball poll when it is released by the Associated Press. Kansas, Baylor, Arizona, Iowa State, and Houston are all expected to compete for top spots in that poll. While Texas and Oklahoma have left the league, there is no shortage of talent in the ever rigorous Big 12.
Kansas basketball fans are certainly excited to see what their new roster can do. Time will tell if the Jayhawks can march back to the conference championship.
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