I didn’t have Kansas sophomore Kohl Rosario doing part of my job for me on my agenda this week, but there he was, standing inside Allen Fieldhouse after a KU practice on Thursday evening, writing part of this story for me.
During a 45-minute practice session that was open to select media and an estimated 200 fans who chose to pay $200 apiece to attend a Bill Self practice, KU freshman Tyran Stokes showcased his full game while only going about 60-70%.
Not because he couldn’t give more or didn’t want to. Rather, because he didn’t have to.
He scored inside. He defended. He handled the rock. And he hit a whole bunch of 3-pointers, stepping effortlessly into each one — mostly from the right wing and just right of the top of the key area — while looking like a shooter by trade and a 6-8, 240-pound bruiser as an afterthought.
“Oh my gosh,” Rosario said of his new teammate when asked about him after the practice. “He’s literally like a super-human. I remember my first time meeting him, I did not think he was gonna be that tall. I mean, this guy weighs 240 pounds. I weigh 205, that’s 35 pounds on me. He’s just really good at basketball. I don’t think anybody could stop him from going downhill. You can quote me on that.”
Done.
Thanks.
The intense reality of Rosario’s words about Stokes served as a good reminder that, while KU fans may have gotten robbed during the Darryn Peterson experience a season ago, there is just as much reason to pull up any and every time you can to watch Stokes do Stokes things this season.
They’re different players to be sure. But Stokes has the chance to be just as impactful and potentially even more dominant.
“He’s such a force when it comes to scoring and drawing people to make the open pass to the open player,” Rosario added.
That much was on full display during Thursday’s practice, and, from the sound of it, has been there pretty much every day since he arrived on campus as one of the newest Jayhawks.
Say what you will about his social media presence and flare for the flash on TikTok, Instagram and live streaming sessions. Those things have nothing to do with basketball. And if you’re one of those fans who is going to get hung up on who you think Stokes is as a person because of a few videos that he, as an 18-year-old kid, makes for laughs, I fear that you’re going to miss out on the full experience of watching a super-special talent.
Like DP, he’ll only be here for the next six or so months. So, don’t blink. Because if you do, you might come to regret that you didn’t watch more closely one of the more unique players to ever come through KU.
Stokes is a basketball player first and foremost and he borders on being a freak athlete at that. Teammate Keanu Dawes called him “complete,” on Thursday after the practice. And KU coach Bill Self recently told a group of us that Stokes could play all five positions on the floor — point guard through center — and be damn good at all of them. On both ends. In large part because he so badly wants to be.
It was just one practice, so I’m not going to pretend that what I saw on Thursday is the definitive book on Stokes.
But judging by conversations I’ve had with those who have seen much more of him since his arrival, it sure sounds like Thursday was a pretty good look at what he’s all about and everything he can do.
Here’s a quick-hitter glimpse at what stood out to me.
• He’s a teammate through and through. He talks with everyone, encourages everybody and has no problem talking about what went wrong or taking the blame when he knows it was his mistake that messed up the play.
• We finally got to see freshman guard Luke Barnett’s jumper on Thursday — boy, talk about a guy who does not hesitate even a millisecond to shoot the ball — and it’s not ridiculous to say that Stokes’ shot looked a lot like Barnett’s. Barnett gets more lift and has a quicker release, but Stokes is a good and pure shooter with good form and fundamentals and plenty of confidence.
• If you’ve only paid attention to his social media presence, you might believe him to be a bit of a diva. Didn’t seem that way to me. Not at all. He was very attentive even when he wasn’t in the action and, again, seemed to have a great connection with all of his teammates, most of whom he hasn’t really known for that long. In addition to that, he was genuinely engaged with the fans and his teammates when they climbed into Allen Fieldhouse's east stands after Thursday's practice was finished to say hello, shake hands and thank people for coming. You can tell when a guy is doing that type of thing because he's told he has to and when he's doing it because he's happy to. Stokes seemed to genuinely enjoy it.
• This next one comes back to that whole 60-70% thing I mentioned above, but he makes everything look so easy. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s got the killer instinct switch he can flip when it’s an opponent he’s facing instead of his teammates. But he looks so smooth, subtle and under control with everything he does. “He’s ridiculously bright,” Self said last week while noting that Stokes could stand to become more consistent. “Ridiculous. And I think he could play with more of an edge, but he’s got the right mindset.”
• It’s obviously early, and we still have plenty to learn about this team, but based on how easy the game looks for Stokes and how many different things he can do and different ways he can score, I don’t think it would be crazy to say that he could make a real push to turn in the highest single season scoring average by a player under Self at Kansas. National Player of the Year Frank Mason owns the mark at 20.9 points per game during the 2016-17 season, with Wayne Simien (20.3 in 2004-05), Darryn Peterson (20.2 in 2025-26), Jalen Wilson (20.1 in 2022-23) and Sherron Collins (18.9 in 2008-09) round out the Top 5. If Stokes made it his goal to join this list, I definitely think he could. But I also think he’d be just as happy to score 12 a game while finding other ways to contribute to winning, most notably with his passing. “He’s a willing passer,” Self said and Stokes showed on Thursday. “So, everybody knows he’s not selfish. It’s not hockey, but you should be a pass to start a play as much as it is a pass to finish the play. He’s a good passer. He’s got great vision. He’s big. He can see over people. He’s as good a passer as we’ve ever had here.”
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