Heading into the season, talking heads across the country labeled North Carolina, Kentucky, Maryland, Duke and Kansas as the premiere contenders.
Thus far, Kentucky has been the only team worth mentioning out of this group.
Obviously it’s very early, so there’s no need to make any closed end statements or predictions, but with that being said, there’s going to be alumni and fans freaking out.
The Tar Heels look lost without Marcus Paige, Maryland has struggled in literally every game, Duke is waiting for Derryck Thornton to step up at point guard and Bill Self’s Jayhawks are weak defensively.
Fortunately for Kansas, their defensive problems may have been solved with the NCAA’s decision today.
The NCAA announces that Chieck Diallo has been cleared to play on Dec. 1 DETAILS: https://t.co/dY5fBVOpsq pic.twitter.com/H1ryQYSMgU
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) November 25, 2015
Kansas fans have been flooding social media with “free Diallo” hashtags for months, with the hope that this day would come to fruition.
If you’re not familiar with Cheick Diallo, you should be.
He’s the no.7 ranked prospect of the 2015 class, according to ESPN. He instantly will provide Kansas with rebounding, rim protection and great energy.
Self has nothing but great things to say about Diallo.
“He can create pace better than any point guard we’ve ever had here. Just because the dude from rim to rim is as good as I’ve seen.”
Without Diallo, Kansas is still deemed a top five team by the media, but with Diallo, I believe the Jayhawks are a top two team in the country alongside Kentucky.
By the way, Kentucky visits Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse January 30.