SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Speculation will continue to swirl about the future of Johnny Furphy, and his time with the Kansas basketball program.

Furphy, a freshman guard this past season, enjoyed a breakout campaign with the Jayhawks. After starting out as a rotation option for KU coach Bill Self off the bench, Furphy emerged as a starter who rose up draft boards. Despite Kansas’ season ending in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament, he will remain an intriguing prospect whose professional career could be underway if he chooses to leave college.

But postgame, after the Jayhawks’ recent defeat in March Madness against Gonzaga, Furphy didn’t speak much to the decision he’d have to make. He noted he hadn’t given his potential NBA future any thought. He instead spoke to the appreciation he has for his experience at Kansas so far, and highlighted how he knows he has room for growth.

RELATED: Kansas started at No. 1 and finished March Madness with a second-round loss. What went wrong?

RELATED: How Kansas basketball’s roster looks next season after transfer portal, recruiting

“I think I’ve learned a lot,” Furphy said. “Yeah, I think I’m a different player than I was at the start of the season. It’s definitely made me realize I’ve got a lot to improve on.”

Furphy went on to start 19 of the 33 games he played in during the season, and averaged a little more than 24 minutes of action per contest. He thrived to the point he out-scored Kansas redshirt senior guard Dajuan Harris Jr., and finished fourth on the team in scoring. Furphy’s end of season stat line saw him averaging 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

It’s true, that Furphy’s consistency shooting the ball dropped off as the season came to a close. The 16-point and 8-rebound performance he had in the Jayhawks’ NCAA tournament win against Samford saw him shoot the ball better than he had in almost a month, dating back to a Big 12 Conference win at home against Texas. But that stretch also coincided with more teams paying attention to him, and him having to deal with that for the first time ever at a level this competitive.

Furphy still finished the season shooting 46.6% from the field, 35.2% from behind the arc and 76.5% from the free-throw line. During a season in which Kansas had to deal with a lot, he gave the Jayhawks a much-needed boost. His abilities offensively and 6-foot-9 and 202-pound frame make him a talent NBA teams have a lot of interest in, and whether he returns to Kansas or not improving defensively should be a focus moving forward.

“I think we all learned a lot about going through adversity,” Furphy said about the season. “I think we had a lot of ups and downs. But yeah, I’m really proud of everyone. We’re a really tight knit group. We love each other.”

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.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball’s Johnny Furphy says he has ‘a lot to improve on’