On Monday afternoon, Kansas head coach Bill Self briefly addressed a group of fans at the Topeka Jayhawk Club- Otto Schnellbacher Classic. Shortly thereafter, Self met with a small group of reporters and answered several questions before making his way back to Lawrence.

JayhawkSlant.com asked Self what he likes about his current roster and, more importantly if he addressed everything that he was hoping to address after the season.

“I would like to have, I think, one more, in a perfect world,” said Self. “I think we’re better and we obviously have a little bit more depth on paper. Last year at this time, we had more depth, too. Unexpected things can obviously happen, but yes, I like our roster.

“We were fortunate to get KJ (Adams, Jr.), Juan (Dajuan Harris), and Hunt (Hunter Dickinson) to all come back,” he added.

Chris Carter (walk-on), Johnny Furphy, Kevin McCullar, Jr., Michael Jankovich (walk-on) Parker Braun, and Nicolas Timberlake have all moved on from last year's team. However, since that time, Self has added Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, Rylan Griffen, Noah Shelby (walk-on), Rakease Passmore, Flory Bidunga, and Will Thengvall (walk-on) to the roster.

With all of the additions, does Self feel that eight players will emerge from the current group and play starter-like minutes when the season officially kicks off in November?

“I’d like one more,” said Self. “I think that, with Zach (Clemence) and Elmarko (Jackson), they are good enough to play a lot of minutes, but I would like to add a little bit more depth, to be honest with you.

“We’re still looking, but if it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t work out,” he added. “I like where we’re at.”

As it stands right now, KU’s roster consists of Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris, Jr., Justin Cross (walk-on), Jamari McDowell, Wilder Evers (walk-on), Elmarko Jackson, Patrick Cassidy (walk-on), Dillon Wilhite (walk-on), KJ Adams, Jr., Zach Clemence, Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, Rylan Griffen, Noah Shelby (walk-on), and Will Thengvall (walk-on).

Self, while addressing the media on Monday afternoon, was specifically asked about McDowell and Jackson.

“Not really anything, just to have a big jump, which I think they should have a big jump,” said Self when asked about Jamari McDowell and Elmarko Jackson. “Usually, I think kids show the biggest step usually after their freshman year and before their sophomore year.

“The good thing about it is, with the guys that we have on the surface, those guys won’t have to, probably, have the production moment,” he added. “Elmarko was put in a tough situation last year. He’s talented, he’s really a good prospect, and he’s going to be a terrific player, but he’d only been playing three years of basketball.”

Jackson, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard from Marlton, N.J., arrived in Lawrence with the highest of expectations. A McDonald’s All-American and one of the top players in the 2023 class, was expected to slide in right away and make a significant contribution.

Those expectations only intensified following the loss of several players before the season started, along with Kevin McCullar, Jr., being injured to end the season. Jackson appeared in 34 games and made 17 starts last season for Kansas.

According to Self, the expectations haven’t changed when it comes to the role Elmarko Jackson is expected to play next season and beyond.

“You throw him into starting at Kansas,” he continued. “That was a little bit, probably, much and a little unfair to him, at that time. He’ll be more prepared this year.”

One player who will face similar type expectations this upcoming season will be AJ Storr, the 6-foot-7, 205-pound guard from Rockford, Ill. The No. 11 ranked player in the transfer portal, Storr spent one year at St. John’s before moving to Wisconsin this past season.

Storr, in 31 games for Wisconsin, averaged 16.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Offensively, he shot 43.5 percent from the field, 31.4 percent from behind the arc, and 81.3 percent from the free-throw line.

In making the move to Kansas, Self was asked what to expect from Storr this season.

“He’s got to be one of our best players, there’s no doubt,” said Self when asked about AJ Storr. “He can score and he needs to get where he defends and rebounds as proficiently as he does as a scorer. I do think that he’s got a chance to be, you know, as good an athlete/player as we’ve had in a while.

“But I don’t think he plays all areas of the game as well as he does when the ball is in his hands,” he added. “So, he can improve in those areas.”

Kansas, without question, made a huge splash in the transfer portal this off-season. As previously mentioned, Storr, in 31 games for Wisconsin, averaged 16.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Offensively, he shot 43.5 percent from the field, 31.4 percent from behind the arc, and 81.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Zeke Mayo, the 6-foot-4, 185-pound guard from Lawrence, Kan., made the move back home after an outstanding career at South Dakota State. This past season, Mayo averaged 19.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per game for the Jackrabbits. During that same stretch, Mayo, the No. 4 ranked player in the transfer portal, shot 46.8 percent from the field, 37.3 percent from behind the arc, and 83.4 percent from the free-throw line.

Rylan Griffen, the 6-foot-6, 190-pound guard from Richardson, Texas, took one visit to Kansas before making a final decision about his future. Griffen, the No. 55 ranked player in the transfer portal, appeared in 3 games this past season at Alabama. He averaged 11.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Offensively, he connected on 45 percent of his field goals, 38.2 percent of his shots from behind the arc, and 83.3 percent of his free throws.

When Storr, Mayo, and Griffen first hit the portal, did Self know that each would become a priority right away, or did he take a different approach?

“Probably approached it a little differently,” he said. “We had to get them as long as it fit with what we’re trying to do. There’s a lot of rumors out there with portal guys and NIL. You hear the rumors and we had to put together a roster based on with what looked best with what we had returning and what fit from an NIL standpoint that we could do.

“There we some guys in the portal, that even though we’d love to have those guys, but it wasn’t as good a fit for us,” he added. “With those guys, I think the more we got into it, the more we dove into their situation and how they could impact us. I think it became obvious it became good fits. But the first indication back in April, we’ve got to get these guys, I think that may be a little strong, but after we got to know the situation, we felt that way.”