{"id":1424,"date":"2026-03-18T15:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T20:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/?p=1424"},"modified":"2026-03-19T12:55:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:55:48","slug":"ku-ncaa-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/ku-ncaa-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"7 KU basketball insights heading into the 2026 NCAA tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Men\u2019s basketball completed its regular season 22-9 overall and 12-6 in the Big 12, with a No. 3 seed in the conference tournament and national ranking of 14. With NCAA tourney time at hand\u2014the Jayhawks will take on California Baptist on Friday in the first round\u2014Crimson & Blue<\/em> has compiled a timely selection of press conference commentary from Coach Bill Self and his Jayhawks to offer fans an outlook for March and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Bill Self, March 7 vs. Kansas State<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the Jayhawks\u2019 final meeting with the press ahead of the Big 12 Tournament, Coach Bill Self was asked to address \u201crumors and speculation\u201d that hint, yet again, at his possible retirement. \u201cAre you feeling good?\u201d The Hall of Famer replied, with his trademark wry smile, \u201cI\u2019m feeling fine today. I appreciate your concern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self continued, \u201cThere are a lot of things out there that … all it takes is for one person to say, and then it\u2019s your job to follow up on that one person. But I wouldn\u2019t believe what the social media internet is saying. I actually feel pretty good, and now I\u2019m really excited about the next, hopefully, several few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked whether he still carries the same passion for tournament season 23 years into his KU tenure, Self answered, \u201cIs it still enjoyable? Just so you know, if it\u2019s not, then I would<\/em> quit. March is the best time of year for me. March would rank ahead of Christmas for me. This is what we love to do, what we live for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Flory Bidunga, Feb. 23 vs. Houston<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Asked about growing speculation that sophomore forward Flory Bidunga, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, could declare himself eligible for the NBA draft, Self confirmed that Bidunga has played himself into position to at least consider the jump. \u201cTo me, he\u2019s the most versatile and best defender in our league, and there\u2019s some other good ones too,\u201d Self said. Shutting down any possible transfer speculation, Self added, \u201cI\u2019m not concerned about anything else, if that\u2019s what you\u2019re asking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self noted that, in the modern NIL world, all players have agents, and those agents could be \u201cputting feelers out there\u201d merely in the hopes of getting \u201ca better deal at the school that you\u2019re at. There\u2019s way too much read into a lot of this stuff. I\u2019m not saying it can\u2019t<\/em> be true, but the reality of it is, a lot of stuff takes place without players actually knowing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Melvin Council Jr., Jan. 16 vs. Baylor<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Senior guard Melvin Council Jr., a breakout star in his only season at Kansas, has repeatedly said he is exploring the possibility of filing an appeal for the NCAA to grant him one more year of college eligibility, adding that he thinks his appeal\u2019s chance of success would be 50-50. And if the appeal were successful, would he turn his back on the NBA draft and stay at Kansas? \u201cI love this place,\u201d Council said March 10. \u201cIf we weren\u2019t to go as far as we think we should, and I think we could do it next year, why not come back and do it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And how might the Jayhawks go as far as they think they should? \u201cI\u2019ll probably say we have to play to our strength,\u201d Bidunga said March 10. \u201cI feel we are showing that we can beat everybody in the country, but if we don\u2019t get to our strength, then everybody can beat us, as well. So I think that needs to be the big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Superstar freshman Darryn Peterson, projected to go No. 1 overall in the NBA draft, even hinted Feb. 23 in the postgame euphoria following KU\u2019s 69-56 victory over Houston that\u2014gasp!<\/em>\u2014he might return too. \u201cI love Kansas and I love everything about being here, and I love my team,\u201d Peterson said. As teammates seated nearby began softly chanting \u201cOne more year,\u201d Peterson, grinning, continued, \u201cMaybe one more year. I might run it back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Melvin Council Jr., Jan. 31 vs. BYU<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Council, who proudly sports the nickname \u201cDawg,\u201d on Feb. 5 revealed his amazement at what he discovered inside Allen Fieldhouse: \u201cWe have the best fans in the country. Coach said so on my visit, and I didn\u2019t believe him. You know, all coaches try to sell a kid a dream, but these fans are unbelievable.\u201d Council shared that he anticipated being a hit with fans\u2014\u201cI will say that my smile was going to go a long way\u201d\u2014and said he\u2019s comfortable as a team leader who can help instill a fighting spirit in his teammates. \u201cI\u2019m the keys to the car. That dawg is gonna start with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Darryn Peterson, Jan. 13 vs. Iowa State<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Team leadership is always a topic on Self\u2019s mind, especially as he tries to get his best players to be more vocal, on the court and off. For this year\u2019s team, Self said he was uncertain whether he could point to one, especially with Peterson repeatedly missing games with an unlucky run of injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith our best teams, I always thought we did it by committee,\u201d Self said Feb. 16. \u201cYou can go back to \u201908, a lot of people said Russell (Robinson) was the leader; he was one of the most quiet guys on our team. And you go back to \u201922, who was our leader in \u201922? They all were. You could make a case that David McCormack probably was as much as anybody. So this one, I don\u2019t think anybody\u2019s really emerged to the point where it\u2019s natural, but I think Melvin is the closest thing to it. … You know, you\u2019d love for it to be Darryn, but Darryn hadn\u2019t been in a position where he\u2019s been out there enough yet that he feels comfortable in doing anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Darryn Peterson and Melvin Council Jr., Jan. 16 vs. Baylor<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Asked on Feb. 26 to discuss what appeared to be obvious coaching challenges thrust on him and his staff this season, given the national spotlight on Peterson\u2019s inconsistent appearances, Self replied, \u201cOne thing about this team that minimizes the so-called challenges is that they all like each other. They\u2019re fun to be around. There have been some teams that maybe weren\u2019t as much fun to be around, that we didn\u2019t talk about publicly, but that creates chemistry (problems) and creates other things that are<\/em> challenges. But this team really does like each other. I don\u2019t see this as being a bigger challenge than other years; it\u2019s just, whatever our challenges have been, they\u2019ve just been fairly well documented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self continued, \u201cI had high expectations for this bunch. I don\u2019t know that I expected the collective group to maybe improve as much, individually, as what a lot of them have, or all<\/em> of them have, but I still think that the high expectations that I had before the season are 100% still in play. But, are we there yet? No, not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The new docuseries \u201cMade for March\u201d\u2014which features unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the Jayhawks\u2019 high-stakes 2025-\u201926 basketball season\u2014begins streaming on Paramount+<\/a> April 4. For the first time, cameras have followed two NCAA Division I teams across an entire season, capturing the intensity, pressure and passion on the road to and through the postseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Watch the official \u201cMade for March\u201d trailer:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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