Why Bill Self wants Dajuan Harris & Hunter Dickinson to play fewer minutes this year

If Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self sticks to his preliminary plan, the Jayhawks’ three returning starters may see a reduction in minutes during their senior seasons.

“The fact is, I would like to get those guys all under 30,” Self said of iron men Dajuan Harris, KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson. “I think we’ll be a better team if we can get them all under 30, and that allows for more guys to be contributors and actually play a role in the success that’s going on.”

Point guard Harris a year ago averaged 35.7 minutes a game, 35.9 minutes in Big 12 Conference contests. Power forward Adams averaged 33.5 minutes overall, 34.8 in league action. Center Dickinson averaged 32.2 minutes overall and 32.3 in conference play.

“In games that are close, they probably had 37, 36 and 35 (minutes),” said Self, whose 23-11 Jayhawks had many close games and precious little depth in 2023-24.

Self — his team went 10-8 in Big 12 play last year — sees a minutes reduction of three key players as a way to keep the trio fresh at all points during games. Also, he believes the roster this season is full of players capable of significant playing time.

“I would say the thing that stands out to me more than anything is just options — more bodies and more athletes,” Self said, speaking at Monday’s Media Day in Hadl Auditorium adjacent to Allen Fieldhouse. “I think we shoot it better even though there will be some days we don’t. I do think we’re a much better shooting team. We’ve helped ourselves athletically for sure. There are a lot of things I think potentially we could do well, a lot of things we don’t do well right now. It is a different looking team physically than what we’ve had this past year.”

He was asked about several of the squad’s newcomers at Media Day.

Self has said senior guard Zeke Mayo will be difficult to keep out of the starting lineup. The 6-foot-4 South Dakota State transfer hit 39.1% of his 3’s a year ago.

“He hasn’t been quite as good here of late as what he was before, but from early summer to now you could make a strong case he’s been our best overall performer day in and day out,” Self said of the Lawrence High graduate.

“He’s just a ballplayer. He understands time, score and momentum. He understands reads. He understands how to make the game easier for others. A lot of things he does so well that if you don’t really know the game you may not really notice. He can make a pass to start a play and have it be just as important as the person who makes the pass to finish the play. He’s a terrific shooter. We’re fortunate we got him. We love having him back in his hometown for his last go-round. He’s definitely going to be an impact player for us.”

He also spoke about transfer guards: Rylan Griffen (Alabama), AJ Storr (Wisconsin), David “Diggy” Coit (Northern Illinois) and Shakeel Moore (Mississippi State). Self said Moore is expected to return from a foot injury that required surgery the first week of November.

“David and Shak are different, but they are both ball-handling, playmaking guards, which is something we desperately needed last year. We didn’t have anybody other than Juan that was really a playmaker type. They both are going to be very important,” said Self, who is beginning year No. 22 at KU.

“With AJ and Rylan, we felt we needed to get scoring. They both are effective at that. Rylan is a really good shooter. AJ is a good shooter and terrific scorer. They both will help us in that regard.”

Coit, a senior who is listed a 5-foot-11, averaged 20.8 points per game, ranking second in the Mid-American Conference, a year ago.

“I like him because at his standing height of 5-9 maybe, he thinks he’s still the biggest, baddest dude in the room. That’s something you have to have,” Self said. “He brings not an arrogance but a confidence and a will that I think is welcome with this team because this team, one thing we needed to do is if we were going to sign somebody late (Coit committed to KU on Aug. 12), he needed to have personality. He has personality. Guys will feed off that.”

Of 6-1 senior Moore, Self said: “I think Shak is our best on-the-ball defender potentially. He’s not a scorer, but he can make a shot. He knows how to play. He’s smart. It hurt him personally that he’s been out. It probably helped some others to allow them more opportunities early. I can’t see any reason health-wise he cant be full speed by the first week of November, something like that.”

Of 6-9 freshman forward Flory Bidunga, Self said: “There’s things you can’t teach, that motor, quickness off his feet, second jump, blocking, altering, running. He’s a terrific quick-twitch athlete.”

Noting that Bidunga is “getting better every day,” Self indicated he was not a candidate to redshirt.

Self did say, “I don’t know exactly how it’s going to play out, but I think so,” when asked if any player or players could redshirt. “Flory obviously won’t. I’m not saying Rakease (Passmore, highly-acclaimed 6-5 freshman guard) will at all, but at least freshmen get to play in the exhibition games before you make that decision.”

KU will travel to Arkansas for an exhibition for charity on Oct. 25, then play Washburn on Oct. 29 at Allen Fieldhouse in another practice game.

“A guy that’s already in your program and healthy ... to my understanding if they play in the exhibition games, it’s the same as playing in a regular-season game from a redshirt situation,” Self said. “If anybody doesn’t play against Arkansas, don’t read into it that they are definitely redshirting. Read into it that we probably hadn’t made a decision yet on how much they can actually help us this particular year based on what our needs are.”

Some have speculated that sophomore guard Jamari McDowell could be a redshirt candidate, perhaps Passmore as well.,

The Jayhawks, who started practicing more than two weeks ago, will scrimmage before fans Friday at the annual Late Night in the Phog. Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. It will be a first look at renovations in the fieldhouse.

“I think our guys will be more excited about it this year because we haven’t been in the arena yet,” Self said of the Jayhawk players. Construction work has been going on all summer into the fall with practices held in the practice gym.

“That’ll be the first time a lot of them have really had a chance to do much in the arena. We’re going to go out there and practice today in it for the first time. It has modern amenities of the newest places ... but the walls still sweat and make this the best place to play,” Self added.