Kansas basketball coach Bill Self reacts to win in opener vs Howard
Check out everything Kansas basketball coach Bill Self had to say Monday after the Jayhawks won their regular season game against Howard.
LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball opened its 2024-25 regular season Monday with an 87-57 win at home against Howard.
The Jayhawks were able to use much of their roster, with no one approaching the upper 20s in minutes played. Senior guard Zeke Mayo led the way with 19 points off the bench. Freshman forward Flory Bidunga showcased his talent with 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
But one player that didn’t take the floor was sophomore guard Jamari McDowell. McDowell, who played in both exhibition games, was seen as a redshirt candidate heading into this season. When head coach Bill Self spoke with reporters postgame, he outlined the path they are taking with McDowell is exactly that.
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“(McDowell)’s going to redshirt,” Self said. “It was — he actually wants to. So, yeah, so, that’s our plan as of today.”
McDowell’s path to playing time was going to be difficult, given the veteran-heavy roster Kansas has this season. It was hard to see him earning a spot in the top eight or nine of the rotation, which would have meant not very many minutes consistently. In that regard, it would be better for him to continue to develop rather than to use up one of his years of eligibility in a minor role as he did last season.
With McDowell unavailable, given the current plan, the rise of freshman guard Rakease Passmore becomes all the more important. So, too, are the additions of transfers like graduate guard Shakeel Moore and senior guard David Coit. Moore didn’t play in the game Monday either due to injury, but the presence of all three of those and more gives the Jayhawks the depth they need to be able to survive the decision to redshirt McDowell.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
