Welcome to a new feature here at KUsports.com, where we take a little closer look at the potential for every player on the Kansas men’s basketball roster, one at a time, leading up to the start of the season next month.
Dubbed, “He will, he won’t, he might,” this feature aims to identify exactly that — something we believe each Jayhawk definitely will do during the 2016-17 season, something the same player almost certainly won’t do and, of course, the wildcard, something each player actually might wind up surprising people with during the upcoming season.
All of the entries, of course, are pure speculation designed to dissect some of the more important aspects of the 2016-17 team.
First up, let’s start with senior point guard Frank Mason III.
Poised to start for Kansas coach Bill Self for the third consecutive season, Mason finished the 2015-16 season as the team’s third leading scorer (12.9 ppg), top assists man (4.6 per game) and most used Jayhawks, playing 1,272 minutes (33.5 per game), nearly a full game more than second-place Devonte’ Graham, who played 1,238 minutes.
Known for his toughness and attacking style, Mason worked on his body in the offseason and appears to be more fit, athletic and explosive than ever before. Here’s a look at what that could mean for his 2016-17 campaign.
He Will: Continue to be the heartbeat of this team.
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**Mason, more than any player on this roster,** exhibits the kind of toughness and determination that KU coach Bill Self has made staples of his programs dating back to his days at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois. Although the total number of games played during each of his first three years as a Jayhawk has differed, Mason has remained remarkably consistent. Many of his sophomore and junior numbers were nearly identical and Mason, during both seasons, became the type of what-you-see-is-what-you-get player that Self could rely on. That will continue — and possibly even grow — during his final season in Lawrence.
He Won’t: Play quite as many minutes as he has in the past.
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**Whether you’re talking about the emergence** of backcourt mate Devonte’ Graham’s game, the presence of freshman phenom Josh Jackson, the opportunity that awaits likely sixth man Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk or the intrigue that surrounds the kind of minutes sophomore Lagerald Vick might be able to provide, the Jayhawks will have opportunities to give Mason more rest in games they don’t absolutely need him to play 40 minutes. It’s been proven that Self has a hard time taking Mason off the floor, especially when things are tight, but this year’s deep and experienced group of talented perimeter players should make that a little easier. Mason will still challenge for the team lead in minutes played, but getting him more rest from time to time will benefit both Mason and the Jayahwks.
He Might: Crack the all-Big 12 first team for the first time in his career.
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**It’s going to be tough, though.** With at least two other players on his own team likely to compete for first-team all-Big 12 honors (Jackson and Graham) the opportunity could be limited. It also could be tough if Mason decides to be more of a distributor and less of a scorer now that he has more scoring punch around him. Having said that, the coaches who vote for this honor know good basketball when they see it and will not hesitate to put Mason on the first team if he’s one of the Big 12’s best players. After starting all 74 games during the past two years, Mason wound up on the all-Big 12 second team after both his sophomore and junior seasons. Could this be the year he breaks through?
