In contemplating his 2026-27 team on a recent edition of the “Inside College Basketball Now” podcast with Jon Rothstein, Kansas coach Bill Self wondered aloud if highly touted freshman Tyran Stokes can “do something like Melo did with Syracuse.”
Melo, of course, is Carmelo Anthony, and his one season with the Orange was a year in which he averaged 22.2 points and 10.0 rebounds, earned national freshman of the year honors and led Syracuse to a national title — beating Roy Williams’ Jayhawks in the championship game.
That’s a lot for anyone to live up to, even the No. 1 player in a given recruiting class, as Stokes is.
“I think that we’ll have the best, the most talented player on the floor basically every night we play,” Self told Rothstein. “Now whether or not a freshman can be the best player on the floor every night, but when you talk about raw talent I think that’s fairly undeniable in Tyran.”
Indeed, if anyone could match Anthony, it might be a player who Self went on to describe as “kind of a Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins), but also a Josh Jackson.” Both were top one-and-done Jayhawk wings who became top-five NBA Draft picks in the mid-2010s.
“To me, Josh was a dog,” Self said. “And Wiggs was so explosive. Tyran’s not as explosive as Darryn (Peterson), but Tyran is a tremendous athlete and he’s unbelievably skilled. But he’s got some dog in him like Josh.”
Stokes, whose own favorite player is Kevin Durant, is of course the second straight top-ranked high-school recruit Self has reeled in, after Peterson in the 2025 class. Amid an injury-marred season, Peterson showed flashes of brilliance, posted north of 20 points a game and went No. 2 overall to the Utah Jazz in June’s draft. But the Jayhawks fell short in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against St. John’s.
As Self noted, KU has plenty of pieces around Stokes this year, but they have a lot to prove, whether it’s in terms of shooting for players like guards Leroy Blyden Jr. and Taylen Kinney or simple reliability in a large sample size for center Paul Mbiya.
That puts a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Stokes, a 6-foot-8 forward from Louisville, Kentucky, known for his passing, rebounding, physical inside presence and, yes, that fiery personality.
“Now, he’s got to manage that, and he’s got to do some things to make sure that (he’s) always thinking next play as opposed to worrying about the last play,” Self said. “But I would much rather deal with a guy that you have to control the emotions sometimes as opposed to encourage it, and he’s certainly got it.”
Whether he can guide KU as far as Anthony took the Orange remains to be seen, but Stokes certainly has a championship pedigree. He played his senior season of high school basketball at Rainier Beach in Seattle and averaged 31.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 4.0 steals per game as the team went on to win a state title.
Kansas guard Andrew Wiggins delivers on a lob dunk against TCU during the first half on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014 at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
Kansas guard Josh Jackson (11) drives against UC Davis guard Siler Schneider (5) during the first half on Friday, March 17, 2017 at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Syracuse’s Carmelo Anthony puts in a layup in the closing seconds
of the Orangemen’s 95-84 victory over Texas. Syracuse’s win April 5
in the semifinals of the Final Four sent it into the finals against
Kansas University.
Nick Krug
Nick Krug
AP File Photo