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KU Insider Henry Greenstein checks in with everything from the Jayhawks Nest.
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00:01And now, digging deeper with the teams you follow, it's another Sports Daily Insider
00:07interview on KFH.
00:10And boy is it, Henry Greenstein of the Lawrence Journal World, KUSports.com, joining us on
00:17Sports Daily on this Hawaiian shirt Wednesday, and Henry, you are partaking, what do you
00:24got there?
00:25I see it's kind of like a black number with a little bit of palm leaves or something.
00:30First of all, I just want to say, after Jacob berating me for weeks on end, I can't help
00:36but notice that he's not here the first time I finally acquired a Hawaiian shirt.
00:42But I'm happy to have TJ here in his stead, but I just have to point that out.
00:47Second of all, yeah, I don't know, this is not really like a typical color for a Hawaiian
00:51shirt, but I think it fits the description because of the-
00:54It works.
00:54The prawns, so.
00:56Yeah.
00:57Yeah.
00:58Now, Henry, Jacob does have a good reason for not being here.
01:01Welcome to new addition to the family, a healthy baby boy yesterday, so.
01:06Well, that's no excuse.
01:08He's going to be so upset that he's wasting his time holding his son rather than seeing
01:12Henry in a Hawaiian shirt.
01:14Yes.
01:14Absolutely.
01:15That's probably regret.
01:16Oh, man.
01:18Well, Henry, welcome to the show.
01:20Always love to have you.
01:21And boy, we got a lot of great things to talk about.
01:25Finally, some developments, at least for now.
01:27Of course, there's always an asterisk, I feel like, when we're talking about any eligibility
01:32situation this year.
01:34But former KU basketball players Trey White, Melvin Council Jr., both recently winning some
01:39court injunctions against the NCAA that make them eligible to return to college basketball
01:44for the 2026-2027 season.
01:49Henry, I guess, what's kind of your initial reaction to that news this week?
01:55Yeah.
01:55So, I mean, of course, KU has acknowledged that it is adding Trey back to the roster and
02:02he's in town.
02:03We haven't heard any similar news on Melvin yet.
02:06I think that when it comes down to it being KU's final roster spot at his disposal now,
02:11maybe they have to tread a little bit more lightly or be a little bit more deliberate
02:15in determining how they do want to proceed with it.
02:18Obviously, I'm sure they'd be happy to have Melvin back, but I think they have to make
02:20sure they exhaust all possible options.
02:23But yeah, I mean, we've been waiting for this for quite some time.
02:27And, you know, ultimately, this is, it is, after all, a temporary injunction.
02:32This will not last forever.
02:35The question is if these recent rulings will last long enough to allow these players to
02:40partake in a significant portion of games over the course of a season.
02:44You know, in Trey White's case, we know it lasts until such time as his lawsuit goes to
02:50trial.
02:51But on the other hand, the NCAA is both appealing for a stay of his injunction and appealing the
02:57injunction itself in a higher court.
02:59And recently, they filed a motion saying their appeal is so urgent and important that it should
03:04go directly to the Supreme Court of Indiana.
03:07So we'll see what happens with that.
03:10And then as for Melvin, the NCAA hasn't filed yet, but it's also been 24 hours since the ruling
03:17came out.
03:17So I have no doubt they will try to take similar measures in New York to try to deter him
03:23however
03:24they possibly can.
03:25And in that one, it's not even clear how long the injunction lasts because the judge has
03:30asked his side to prepare what the order should consist of.
03:36So all that is to say, like, bringing back veteran experience, it has a sense of what it's
03:42like in Bill Self's system and both players who were extremely productive last year cannot
03:48possibly be anything other than good for KU.
03:50I understand the concerns about a logjam on the wing and taking minutes away from young,
03:56promising players.
03:57And those can all be dealt with.
03:58But ultimately, Bill Self's goal is to assemble the best roster possible.
04:03And I think, you know, as much as KU fans have complained somewhat in recent years, they've
04:08maybe also gotten used to a roster that has less depth than what KU had in some of its
04:13peak seasons.
04:16So adding these sorts of players is more of a return to form than something incredibly out
04:21of the ordinary in my mind.
04:22But yeah, we'll see how it develops.
04:24I have a feeling neither of these stories is even remotely close to concluded.
04:28And part of that is because we don't know for sure that Melvin's coming back to KU yet.
04:31You know, his state rationale for moving to New York, like moving the case from Warrants
04:37to Monroe County, New York, was to broaden his options beyond KU.
04:41He's posting like someone who wants to come back, but we'll have to see in the hours and
04:45days ahead if that indeed happens.
04:47I think that the NCAA's attorneys have probably bought their second lick house by now because
04:52it's unbelievable the billable hours that they're racking up through all these appellate
04:56course cases and everything that you just said about this one.
04:59And there's a hundred of them going on.
05:00We're also doing the same thing that Trey's in.
05:03Kenny and Giles was in, Wichita State's leading scorer last year.
05:06So we're digging into it here locally as well, obviously.
05:09The way that Wichita State has handled it, we talked to Paul Mills, is that when they
05:14built this roster back in April, they left a scholarship open just in case.
05:19They don't have the spots, roster spots per se.
05:22They're going to have to shift that around.
05:23But they left a scholarship open in case they were able to get him back.
05:26In KU's case, is there room?
05:28What was that like to add Trey White back?
05:30Is there room to add the council?
05:32They're talking to the Purdue guy as well.
05:34Where does the roster sit?
05:36Yeah, well, I don't know that they did this on purpose, but they did come out of the bulk
05:41of their roster acquisitions with two spaces available.
05:46So that worked out quite nicely for them.
05:49But according to Self, they were not involved at all in Melvin's thing.
05:52He's already said that.
05:53They were not involved in Melvin choosing to pursue his lawsuit.
05:56And also, according to Self, Trey White decided on his own to latch onto this Indiana lawsuit
06:02that you've mentioned.
06:03Which, by the way, KU football also has two new players who are both in that same lawsuit.
06:09It's interesting to me because I feel like for a very long time, and in the sense of college
06:14sports, by a very long time, I mean a month and a half, the KU athletic department totally
06:22held off on engaging with any of these guys who were getting a fifth year, or maybe not
06:28engaging with, but at least officially attempting to bring them aboard.
06:31You know, you look at a place like Texas Tech, and basically as soon as the opportunity to
06:38start bringing back guys like Donovan Atwell, and Darian Williams, and the UCF transfer to
06:43Michael Stilwell, as soon as those opportunities manifest themselves, they hopped aboard.
06:48I mean, there are schools that basically, since the first Wisney ruling came out in the end
06:54of July, the Colorado ruling that said all four-year guys now have a fifth year.
06:58Like, since that moment, there were some schools that were off to the races and just started
07:02bringing back everyone they could.
07:04When KU announced Trey White was coming back to the roster, that was the first person who's
07:09won eligibility versus the courts they actually allowed onto a team.
07:13You know, like, for instance, Clifton Thompson, the defensive tackle that KU added from Central
07:18Connecticut State a few days ago, I believe they were on him, like, during fall camp.
07:23But I don't, I think for some reason, they decided this particular case, getting an
07:28injunction was like a new level of security, maybe in their minds, like Travis Goff and
07:33the administration, compared to anything that's come before.
07:37And so, I mean, we'll see if their patience is rewarded.
07:42And we'll see if, you know, ultimately in that original Colorado ruling, the NCAA state
07:46maybe gets overturned and everyone gets a fifth year again.
07:49But it's just been interesting to kind of chart the process that's gotten KU to this point
07:53where it's now letting these people on rosters.
07:56And oh, by the way, like, this is not going to be the end of it.
08:00Like, I'm pretty sure for some spring sports down the line, we will see this as well, baseball
08:05and softball.
08:05So, Henry Brady, let me hop back in here really quick.
08:08In terms of that, to follow up, obviously there's Melvin Council, who seems like he's
08:13going to be eligible or is eligible as it currently stands.
08:15And then is it Trey Kaufman-Wren?
08:17That's his name, right?
08:18Is there only room for one of them?
08:20Is that what the decisions are going to have to come down to, basically?
08:22So, this is the big question.
08:23And I, well, it's more, I would say it's more so between him and Melvin Council.
08:27Well, that's what you said.
08:28Sorry, my bad.
08:29Like, Trey White's already firmly ensconced on there.
08:33But just to clarify.
08:35So, yes, they have one, they have one spot.
08:38There's now a 15-player limit as of last year from the House settlement.
08:45And I've been racking my brain for any sort of loophole that KU can use to get multiple
08:51people.
08:51And like I said, I think we'll have clarity on this pretty soon to see if this is actually
08:55a legitimate possibility.
08:56You know, Missouri, for example, has 17, is trying to get a 17th person on its roster.
09:04It already is one over the limit because it turned out one player was a designated student
09:08athlete.
09:09And that basically means when the House settlement went into place, there was a brief window where
09:14teams could say, if these roster limits went into place, this guy would lose his spot.
09:20Well, under this rule, he's exempt from those limits.
09:24It's like a grandfather walk-on, basically.
09:27Exactly.
09:28But it doesn't have to be a walk-on.
09:30Like, it could be like just a bad scholarship player.
09:33So, I don't think Mizzou's revealed who that is.
09:36But, so that was enough for them to get Mark Mitchell back.
09:38But they also want this second guy.
09:40And apparently, to get their second guy, what they're doing is somehow, if a guy has an injury
09:46that caused him to miss the entire season and you know about that before the season starts,
09:50I think that can give you a free roster spot.
09:53So, if someone on KU's roster suffers a season-ending injury, they might be able to get another person
10:00on.
10:00The other option, and I actually think this is more realistic.
10:04This is wild speculation.
10:05Just want to put a disclaimer before that.
10:07But some of these injunctions, players have had a specific provision that is like, roster
10:15limits do not apply to me.
10:17So, Ryland Griffin, who is now at Texas A&M, got a fifth year.
10:21And the terms of his injunction make him exempt from roster limits.
10:25So, if there's some opportunity in the weeks ahead, because Trey Kaufman-Rain has not yet
10:30had his hearing on an injunction.
10:32He's under a temporary restraining order.
10:35And I haven't personally done much reporting about KU's interest in him, but they're, you
10:38know, Jeff Goodman, Michael Swain, plenty of people have reported this.
10:41But anyway, if there's some opportunity for him to just slide in, hey, by the way, can
10:46I please not be subject to roster limits?
10:49That would work out great for any school that is trying to bring him aboard.
10:54So, I think that's probably the most realistic path, as opposed to someone suffering a season-ending
10:59injury or otherwise finding a way to get someone off the roster.
11:04But, yeah, we're kind of in uncharted territory here, as you guys can probably tell.
11:09Yeah, just all of it.
11:11Just all of it.
11:12It's so crazy.
11:13Just kind of another sign of just how crazy the times are in college athletics.
11:17I mean, KU, we're talking about, not just KU, but we're talking about older players returning.
11:23We're not talking about new bases hardly at all anymore.
11:25And KU has Tyron Stokes.
11:27And we barely, it's kind of like an afterthought.
11:30We've been so focused on, you know, who can come back from years past.
11:35Henry, let's switch over, talk KU football.
11:38They are back in action after the bye.
11:41In Lawrence, 11 a.m. kick.
11:43They'll have Middle Tennessee and David Booth Stadium favored, KU to Jayhawks favored by 18 and a half.
11:51And kind of looking at the rest of the schedule the rest of the way, Henry.
11:53I mean, this is a get-right game that I think the Jayhawks desperately need to, when it's all said
12:00and done,
12:01they need to feel like they got something right.
12:03Yeah, I mean, it's a must-win, but it's also a must-get-settled-back-in, right?
12:07I mean, this is a team that just, especially on offense, needs some kind of rhythm.
12:12You think about how many times, you know, the final margin against Arizona State ended up looking pretty good
12:18because they came back in, like, the final nine minutes or whatever it was.
12:21But the offense was so stagnant for the first four-fifths of that game.
12:27I mean, if they don't go three and out, like, at least one or two more times, it's probably a
12:33lot more competitive.
12:36I sympathize with their situation because the offense has somehow already been devastated by injuries.
12:41You know, Yasin Willis, who was thought to be one of the best players on the team,
12:45is now likely going to be out for the season with a leg injury that he suffered against Arizona State.
12:50So that's not good.
12:51And that's on top of two other running backs who are already out for the year.
12:57Cam Pickett has played six snaps this year, you know, for as much as we talk about him in the
13:01preseason.
13:03And, you know, last year he got hurt early and kept trying to play through it,
13:08and then it took a long time before he was effective.
13:10This year he got hurt early, and they just really haven't been using him,
13:13which is probably a better course of action.
13:14But Carson Bruin's been hurt.
13:18Cole Ballard's hurt.
13:19There's been so much instability on offense.
13:21I think KU just needs to have a game where it puts some long and focused drives together
13:27and starts to flex its muscle a little bit against what should be an inferior opponent.
13:32All right, Henry.
13:33Out of time.
13:34Never enough time with you, but we'll talk about KU in Middle Tennessee next time we talk to you as
13:40well.
13:40Henry Greenstein, Lawrence Journal World, KUSports.com.
13:43A great rest of your week, Henry.
13:44Appreciate it.