• 🔒 Latest on 5-Star Darryn Peterson

• KU-Washburn: 5 things to watch

• 📝 Quick Links: Odd Fieldhouse change

Support The Hearings by sending this to KU friends and fam. Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

EVERYTHING IN THIS NEWSLETTER IS BASED UPON WHAT I AM HEARING FROM PEOPLE I TRUST. PLEASE DO NOT MISTAKE THIS FOR FACT OR FOR ACTUAL JOURNALISM, WHICH HAS VERIFICATION STANDARDS THAT I HAVE NOT ADHERED TO. I DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT.

⭐️ It’s Darryn Peterson Week ⭐️

It’s a massive week for the future of Kansas basketball.

KU’s top target, Darryn Peterson, announces his college decision on Friday. He’ll pick between KU, Ohio State, KState, and USC.

I’ve even Heard the Jayhawks turned down another five-star player in their pursuit of Peterson.

Get the latest in VIP today.

In case you missed it, VIP subscribers got a loaded KU hoops roster Hearings on Friday.

Get the latest on the players trending up.. and trending down as the Jayhawks start their season.

VIP subscribers can read it here.

5 Things to Watch: Kansas vs. Washburn

• ⛹️‍♂️ Washburn @ Kansas, 7pm CT Tuesday

• 📺 ESPN+

• 📊 Last “game” 😧 Kansas 69, Arkansas 85.

Quick Thoughts on KU-Arkansas

A few of you have asked if I’m worried after KU’s underwhelming opener against Arkansas. Sure, it wasn’t fun to watch, but it’s nothing like watching your team catch a kickoff and go out of bounds on the 1-yard-line against your rival.

*I’m working on some football thoughts for this week.

Here’s why KU’s first exhibition didn’t make me yell at my TV like another game this weekend:

• KU didn’t run any offense. Arkansas ran a lot of offense. This, of course, benefited Arkansas.

• Three of KU’s best seven players — Hunter Dickinson, Rylan Griffen, and Shak Moore — didn’t play.

  • Bill Self said Griffen and Moore should get some (likely limited) minutes tonight. He added that Dickinson practiced but is unlikely to play.

• And I don’t think Self was too upset watching his team struggle to guard.

• Verdict: No big deal.

I think there should be a few subtle signs that Self got in his team’s ear after Arkansas.

5 Things I’m watching for vs. Washburn

1) AJ Storr’s effort (Will he get an offensive rebound?)

I’ll be watching to see how engaged Storr is when he’s not getting shots up. Self is going to push Storr to do all of the little things that Self believes lead to winning.

This is gonna be a work in progress.

In June, Self said Storr needs to be as good a defender and rebounder as he is a scorer (per 247Sports).

Storr had zero offensive rebounds against Arkansas.

One exhibition is no big deal. Let’s keep it at just one game, though.

2) Can Rakease Passmore set himself up to steal minutes?

Self reportedly told the team that Passmore stood out as KU’s best player in the Arkansas game.

I’ve been Hearing about Passmore all offseason. He loves to guard — and he led the team with 4 offensive rebounds.

There’s a long lineage of KU players doing the little things that earn them playing time — and the player never gives it back (see Adams, KJ).

Let’s see if Passmore can keep it going.

3) Ball screen defense (I’ll be watching Flory)

KU’s ball screen defense was bad on Friday night.

Self traditionally favors a hard hedge on screens. The image below shows the first play of the game.

Bidguna should be up to the level of the ball. Arkansas made a wide-open three on the play.

It wasn’t just Bidunga. KU struggled with ball screen defense the entire game.

But I’ll be watching Bidunga to see if any obvious changes are made.

4) Will Mayo and Storr attack the basket?

Arkansas’ length — and KU’s lack of running offensive sets — kept Storr and Mayo from getting to the rim.

If Storr and Mayo can drive to the basket, we should see it against a team like Washburn.

I’m not expecting a ton of drives, but you’d like to see it once or twice.

5) A couple of great offensive possessions

You can always expect this kind of game to be sloppy at times.

But I’m just looking for those couple of possessions where the ball whips around the court… or a guy makes the unselfish extra pass — and the Fieldhouse Ball Knowers stir in approval.

It’ll be the little signs that should get us feeling good about the team.

After all, North Carolina comes to town in just nine days.

Enjoyed this Hearing?

Please help spread the word by telling your friends about KUHearings. Sharing this link and suggesting they subscribe goes a long way! Thank you in advance.

🏀🤔 KU Athletics changed the time students and the general public can enter Allen Fieldhouse for hoops games. I’m working on finding out more here.

🏈 We have a video board structure going in at the football stadium. See it here.

🏀 Christian Braun, Gradey Dick, and Ochai Agbaji all had double-digit games Monday night. See their stats here. And watch this play from Braun!

🏈🏀 The Could Be Wrong Podcast did a cross over show with Jayhawk Talk. Watch it on YouTube, listen on Spotify, and on Apple.