Since the Kansas basketball team’s loss to Auburn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Jayhawks have been steeped in decision season.
Which players would decide to declare for the NBA Draft? Whom among the 2018-19 Jayhawks would elect to transfer? Would five-star prospects such as Matthew Hurt, Precious Achiuwa or R.J. Hampton choose to play at KU? What would the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Reinstatement committee determine about Silvio De Sousa’s appeal?
While it may seem KU head coach Bill Self and his staff have experienced fewer victories during decision season than the program’s rabid fan base would deem acceptable, this all-important portion of the offseason isn’t over yet.
One of the biggest resolutions capable of impacting next season’s roster will be [reached][1] by Wednesday night. That’s when the deadline arrives for every college player who entered the NBA’s pre-draft process and attended the combine but hasn’t yet decided whether to keep his name in the draft pool or return the college ranks for at least one more go-round.
And that’s when Self and the Jayhawks will find out whether high-speed point guard Devon Dotson will be blurring up and down the court at Allen Fieldhouse this coming season or embarking on his professional career.
The verdict is one Dotson will reach with his family, and they will do so from a well informed position now that the 6-foot-2 (in shoes) point guard has spent the past several weeks working out in front of and receiving feedback from NBA executives, coaches and scouts.
While it seems Dotson improved his stock through this process, his NBA future remains no sure thing. Unless there is some franchise who fell in love with Dotson and assured him he will be picked at the end of the first round or beginning of the second, it appears he could add further value to his draftability by returning for his sophomore season. As of Tuesday morning, ESPN’s list of best prospects available ranks Dotson 59th overall for the 60-pick draft. Quentin Grimes, who also has yet to announce his staying or going status, ranked 73rd on the list, while Dedric Lawson was 67th.
Self will find a way to get by without Dotson if the point guard’s ultimate choice is to remain in the draft. But Dotson resolving to come back to KU would qualify as a massive decision season win for the Jayhawks.
If Dotson announces he’s sticking around, it helps lessen the blow felt by Hampton’s Tuesday announcement that he’ll play professionally in New Zealand, as well as his subsequent declaration on “The Yak” radio show that he would’ve chosen KU had he decided to play college basketball.
Much more importantly, though, Dotson choosing the known of starring at Kansas over a murkier immediate future likely involving a lot of time next season in the G League would solidify KU’s standing as one of college basketball’s top teams in 2019-20.
More decisions that will impact KU’s next roster will come, including one from four-star forward Jalen Wilson, set to visit later this week.
But no conceivable conclusion at this juncture can do for the Jayhawks’ 2020 Final Four chances what Dotson could by deciding to run it back in a KU uniform.
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2019/may/28/kansas-point-guard-devon-dotson-make-announce-stay/
