Kansas Jayhawks Player Ratings to the Theme of Missing Players

Kansas loses the Big 12 championship to Texas. Let's rate the players.

Well, Kansas got destroyed by Texas in the Big 12 Tournament championship game, and while no one outside of Jalen Wilson was particularly good, many will point to the absence of Kevin McCullar as the real reason Kansas couldn’t get much done, especially defensively. So, today, we are rating the players to other key KU players who have been absent. Here’s the criteria:

5 Stars: Out of this world performance. This is a hard to achieve rating and is only reserved for the most impressive or impressionable performances.

4.5 Stars: Very strong performance, packed the stat sheet, provided undeniable intangibles.

4 Stars: A strong performance that falls just short of the standards above.

3.5 Stars: Above average performance, perhaps stands out in one category or one aspect of the game.

3 Stars: Average performance. Also could be a very strong game in one aspect but a very poor game in another such as 15 points but seven turnovers. Could also be that the player played, did their job, but didn't do much spectacularly.

2 Stars: Below average performance, or we simply have higher expectations for the player on this particular night.

1 Star: Rare, but if a player has a stinker in all aspects.

Memorial No Star: Named after former KU Chris Teahan and is awarded to the player(s) who didn't have enough playing time to contribute or whose performance isn't worthy of a rating for another reason.

Contents

1. 5 Stars: Joel Embiid in 2014
2. 4 Stars: Wayne Simien in 2003
3. 3 Stars: Ben McLemore in 2012
4. 2 Stars: Jamari Traylor in 2012
5. 1 Star: Kevin McCullar in 2023
6. Chris Teahan Memorial No Star:

5 Stars: Joel Embiid in 2014

Who knows how far the 2014 team would’ve gone in the NCAA tournament with a healthy Joel Embiid. My guess is pretty far, or at least farther than a second-round, three-point loss to Stanford. And we all saw what Embiid was developing into just before he got hurt. Credit to Bill Self for sitting Joel, as he might not be the player he is now if he’d had to play through an injury.

No one was a five star.

4 Stars: Wayne Simien in 2003

The only reason that this isn’t the five star is because of how Wayne Simien’s replacement, Jeff Graves, played, especially in the title game against Syracuse. Graves finished that game with 16 points and 16 rebounds, a feat that Simien would’ve been hard pressed to achieve. The difference is that the other “big” off the bench was Bryant Nash and I’m guessing Wayne could’ve given KU more than the one point and one rebound Nash got in five minutes of action.

The only KU player worthy of consideration for anything nice in these ratings is Jalen Wilson. As per usual, when the team can't muster up the ability to even show up, Wilson has to show out just to keep the game from being a rout. Well, he dominated offensively and KU still got run. He had 24 points.

3 Stars: Ben McLemore in 2012

Ben McLemore was ineligible for the 2011-12 season and Kansas still made a run all the way to the NCAA title game. Imagine if Ben was starting on that team instead of Conner Teahan. Things probably would've gone differently against Kentucky. McLemore went on to have a monster 2012-13 earning first team All-Big 12 and second-team All-American honors.

Joe Yesufu provided a spark and was KU's second leading scorer. Couldn't hang with Texas defensively the way that Kevin McCullar can though and that was a key. Joe scored 11 points.

I'm going to lump all of KJ Adams, MJ Rice, and Ernest Udeh here. All were active on the offensive end to some degree or another, but not one of these guys could really handle what Texas was doing offensively. Having Kevin McCullar by their side papers over a lot of the issues these guys had rebounding and blocking out. His presence is essential.

2 Stars: Jamari Traylor in 2012

Speaking of ineligible in 2011-12, Jamari Traylor could’ve been useful. His impact was nowhere near that of McLemore, and who knows how he’d have dealt with Anthony Davis and company in the title game, but he still would’ve been a useful option.

Dajuan Harris was probably the most visibly worn-out player for KU. And after chasing Gabe Kalcheur all over the court just 24 hours earlier, you can understand why. Dajuan was uncharacteristically sloppy, committing four turnovers to go with his four assists.  He also scored six points.

In a game that Kansas desperately needed someone to step in for a pooped Dajuan Harris, Bobby Pettiford was unable to do so.

Texas has Gradey Dick's number, I guess. He was three of 11 shooting, including missing all five three-point attempts. Gradey should see some relief in the first round of the tournament where an overmatched opponent will have to focus on multiple players. Dick finished with six points.

1 Star: Kevin McCullar in 2023

Kevin will obviously skyrocket up this list if he is unable to play in the big dance, but for now, this was a pretty meaningless game in a tournament that would’ve been nice to win, but not essential.

No one was a one star.

Chris Teahan Memorial No Star:

Michael Jankovich got a novelty minute again, this time with his team getting destroyed.