Player Ratings to the Theme of Animals I've Seen in the Wild

Putting the performances of Jalen Wilson and the other Jayhawks in a unique context after a big win.

Perhaps you’ve been to Yellowstone or some other national park and seen some cool animals in the wild. Well sir or madam, I applaud you. I’ve been to my fair share as well but have never had the pleasure (?) of seeing a bear in the wild or that would be an undisputed number one. Perhaps you’ve been on a safari where everything you saw is better than this list. Cool. But since I haven’t, I’ll just rate the Kansas Jayhawk players from my personal experience with wildlife. Feel free to comment in the discord server with your anecdotes.

And in case you're new to these player ratings (or just need a refresher on how they work or forgot from last season), here's how we rate them.

Contents

1. 5 Stars: Bison
2. 4.5 Stars: Whales and Dolphins
3. 4 Stars: Andean Condor
4. 3.5 Stars: Monkeys/Sea Turtles
5. 3 Stars: Big Horn Sheep
6. 2 Stars: Cardinals or any other colorful North American birds
7. 1 Star: Squirrels
8. Chris Teahan Memorial No Star:

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 a former KU walk-on or obscure player 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.

Let's get to it.

5 Stars: Bison

Kansas just beat North Dakota State, so what did you expect? Plus, bison are majestic. When traveling the American southwest, we arrived at the north rim of the Grand Canyon quite early, and as we were driving into the park, a herd of bison were crossing the road. They are probably not “wild” as they most likely live on the premises full time, but I’m counting it because this fantastic creature deserves to be the five star.

No KU players warranted a five star this time although Jalen Wilson’s first half was close.

4.5 Stars: Whales and Dolphins

Whale watching excursions can be tedious, but when you see one, especially one that breaches, it’s a fantastic moment. That said, I still want to see one just fly into the air like it’s a Pacific Life commercial. Packs of dolphins are also cool to watch as they swim and jump and swim.

Here’s where Jalen Wilson lands. After an amazing first half, he cooled down in the second. He finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 21 points and nine rebounds. He’s off to a great start this season.

4 Stars: Andean Condor

The world’s biggest flying bird can be seen at the Colca Canyon in Peru. They soar majestically overhead, swooping over you without even having to flap their enormous wings (they have a 12 foot wingspan). The only downside is that you might arrive there and see no birds.

Kevin McCullar is a guy that can quietly fill up a scoresheet. He doesn’t seem overly impressive with anything he does, but the dude is solid. Finished with six points and seven rebounds.

I like monster dunks and Ernest Udeh provides monster dunks. You can tell that the Kansas coaching staff has worked with the big freshman on this as it seems like set play after set play is designed for Ernest and his dunking prowess. He scored eight points on four of five shooting.

An eight assist game lands Bobby Pettiford in the four star category. A healthy Pettiford is proving to be quite the commodity for KU.

As debuts go, MJ Rice had a nice one. He scored ten points and his aggressiveness going to the rim is great to see. It also led to four fouls, something Norm Roberts will try to cut down on before the next game.

3.5 Stars: Monkeys/Sea Turtles

When we were in Siem Reap, Cambodia on the way to visit Angkor Wat, our tuk-tuk driver stopped at a popular spot where monkeys gather. We took some cool photos. The downside: these smart jerks are so used to humans that they literally took the water bottle out of my wife’s hands, opened the lid, and drank it.

Many people get to see sea turtles while snorkeling. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen one like that. Instead, one swam right by us while we were swimming in Waimea Bay  in Hawaii. It then went gently back under and swam away.

Gradey Dick didn’t quite match his debut performance, but a solid 12 points and five rebounds will get the job done. The man loves getting out in transition, something many of his teammates also enjoy.

Zuby Ejiofor had his best game in a KU uniform. Yes, I know it’s extremely early and the game was in its final minutes but ripping down seven boards in that time is impressive. Scored three points as well.

Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams were solid again.

Joseph Yesufu made a few threes and looked pretty comfortable out there. He finished with eight points. Man, this Kansas team is really deep. Bill Self will have some work to do to get his usual eight man rotation sorted out.

Why not? Michael Jankovich canned a three so he’s here too.

3 Stars: Big Horn Sheep

Go to any of the national parks in Utah, and you’re bound to see a few of these bad boys.

Again, it looked like Zach Clemence was trying too hard out there and appeared to get lost defensively a few times.

2 Stars: Cardinals or any other colorful North American birds

It’s always nice to see a colorful bird out your window. This isn’t a bad rating, it’s just too commonplace to be higher on the list.

No one landed here.

1 Star: Squirrels

Boring.

No one here either.

Chris Teahan Memorial No Star:

Kyle Cuffe and Dillon Wilhite.