Who's Next?

I thought about making a list of breakout candidates for the 2026-27 school year, but that seemed a little too challenging, either because you don’t always see breakouts coming or because, sometimes, you tend to pick someone who already has broken out at least a little. 

That shifted my mind to another category – fan favorites.

Identifying this group is equally challenging in a lot of ways, but it’s also a little easier to predict because so much of the fan favorite mentality is based on personality. 

Whether that’s loud and boisterous or cool and confident — or a combination of those traits and a few others — fan favorites grab the hearts of fans every year because they’re easy to root for and they often have the personality or back story that makes pulling for them feel right. 

Think Melvin Council Jr. last season for the KU men’s basketball team. I know, I know, he’s working on coming back for this season, too, but we’ll let that process play out and go ahead and identify a few KU athletes who might follow in his footsteps while we wait to see if he’s back. 

Council was a little bit of all of those things listed above and, for the most part, he flat-out delivered, as well. 

So, with that in mind, let’s take a quick look at a few of this year’s candidates to become the next Council. 

In fairness, I’m not sure we’ll see many KU athletes like Council in the years to come. The dude they loved to bark for always felt like one of those one-of-a-kind guys and he’ll be remembered around KU for a long, long time. 

So, too, though, might these athletes. 

Here’s a quick rundown of the criteria we used to ID these guys as possible Council heirs. 

• They don’t have to be newcomers but lesser known at least
• Having a huge personality, on or off the court/field is a plus  
• These guys & girls give all they have to win, not necessarily for stats 
• And, while the spotlight is not what they seek, they are at least capable of carrying the load and taking a significant leadership role 

We’ll do one a week for the next six weeks, taking us up to the start of the school year and a whole bunch of KU sports and athletes to follow. 

First up - KU men’s basketball forward Keanu Dawes...

First things first here. I think Dawes is going to be big time for the Jayhawks this season. And I don’t think he’s been talked about near enough this offseason. 

His game fits any style and any lineup. And he has terrific experience, size and athleticism to do damage in a number of ways. 

Seeing him finish among the team leaders in several categories — not the least of which are points and rebounds — would not surprise me in the least. And I think he’s definitely the kind of guy who can operate as the heartbeat of this team night in and night out. 

The reason? He cares. 

And that’s what brings him into that Melvin Council Jr. territory. I don’t think Dawes is the kind of guy who’s going to mope and whine if things don’t go his way or if it’s not his day. I don’t think he’ll let the frustration of an off shooting night take him out of the game everywhere else, too. 

He’s a gamer. A grinder. A guy who has and will give it all he’s got for the good of the team — like Council did so well. 

It’s become pretty common to see KU’s newcomers appreciate the opportunity to play at a place like Kansas, with all that history and tradition and the Hall of Fame head coach leading the way. So, that’s not exactly anything new or unique. 

And while most of this year’s new faces — freshmen and transfers alike — seem to be wildly excited to be at KU, I get the feeling that Dawes appreciates the opportunity the most — like Council did. 

When you spend two of the first three years of your career playing at a football school that lacked much basketball success and history — and Year 1 at mid-major Rice before moving on to Utah — coming to a place like KU no doubt feels different. Magical almost. 

The gear, the locker room, the uniform, the building. All of it can bring a sense of awe to anyone, and Dawes appears to be best equipped to soak it all up along the way. 

Don’t get me wrong, if it’s that Melvin Council fire and tenacity you’re looking for, you might do better to look at freshmen Tyran Stokes, Taylen Kenney or sophomore Kohl Rosario. That’s more of their game out of the gate, and all three seem to lead with personality. 

Dawes is more Kawhi Leonard when it comes to showing his emotion.

But I think it’s possible, if he gets going and gets caught up in the flow of what it means to be a Jayhawk, Dawes could find that fire too and show it by making it crystal clear that there’s no place he’d rather be than right here while becoming a fan favorite in the process.

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