Kansas basketball still plans to redshirt forward Zach Clemence, head coach Bill Self says
Kansas basketball does not lack veteran leadership on its 2023-24 roster.
As coach Bill Self mentioned at Big 12 Conference media days Wednesday in Kansas City, guard Dajuan Harris Jr., forward KJ Adams Jr. and guard Kevin McCullar Jr. are all back from last season’s team. The Jayhawks added center Hunter Dickinson through the transfer portal from Michigan. It’s a matter of who’s going to be the voice in a given moment, not if there’s going to be a voice at all.
But what Kansas does lack is the depth it’s had, numbers-wise, of seasons past. The Jayhawks have 10 scholarship athletes on the roster. And yet, Self’s plan to redshirt forward Zach Clemence hasn’t changed.
“With only nine guys on scholarship that will play this year, because we still plan on redshirting Zach, it does leave a lot less margin for error as in years past,” Self said during his press conference.
Clemence had decided to transfer away after the end of the 2022-23 season, and ultimately chose to commit to UC Santa Barbara. The move seemed like a promising one for Clemence, who would be in a position to compete for more playing time after having a limited role across two seasons at Kansas. But then Clemence changed his mind, and Self took him back with the understanding that Clemence intended to redshirt so he could develop further another year.
Should the Jayhawks’ front court remain healthy, that plan shouldn’t have to change. Among the scholarship players there are Dickinson, Adams and forward Parker Braun. Self’s rotation, under normal circumstances, wouldn’t conceivably go much past that three anyway.
Even if there is an unfortunate injury to Kansas’ back court, the plan shouldn’t have to change. It’s not as if Self would turn to Clemence to play point guard, or to play the 2-spot or 3-spot. The Jayhawks also have a host of walk-ons in the back court, including a long-standing member of the team in guard Michael Jankovich, if needed.
What would only cause for a discussion to change the plan, is if there’s an unforeseen period of time when the availability of Kansas’ scholarship front court athletes changes. It’ll be one of the what-ifs of the Jayhawks’ season, and one that will never truly go away. Clemence has the potential to be a quality talent, whether that’s at Kansas or elsewhere, it’s just a matter of if the clock on it being time to show that accelerates before season’s end.
“The arrangement that we had with Zach, and what he wanted, I think is very fair of what he requested,” Self said Oct. 2, ahead of the team’s Late Night in the Phog event on Oct. 6. “So, unless something changes on the interior, I do see Zach still redshirting at this juncture.”
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Jordan Guskey covers the 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: Bill Self: Kansas basketball still plans to redshirt Zach Clemence
