I am team Elmarko as a person. Seems like a good head on his shoulders. Good teammates. Just bad feel for the game. I hope he makes a gigantic jump.
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He doesn't have a bad feel for the game. He is a point guard who had to learn how to play point guard without the ball, because Harris Jr. is the point guard.

Not only did he have to learn how to play with another PG, he had to learn it while playing at the University of Kansas, and also while playing a bunch of games against Top 10 teams, and then Top 25 teams.

Plus, he also had to learn to play defense the Bill Self Way.

Like, that's a lot of crap to throw at a kid in his first year of college basketball.

I am not saying he is great, but you can clearly see the talent, and if you pay attention to him during games, you can see his brain working instead of just playing.

If he had left, I would have understood, and I think it says a lot about him that he stayed. He could have left like a lot of players, such as Grimes (although it eventually worked out for him) but he didn't.
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I agree. EJ just didn't know how to play the game without the ball in his hands. I think he makes a big leap next year if he's given the minutes.
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Naw, he doesn't have a bad feel. There were times where he would dish some really nice passes. He just played like a lost freshman down the stretch. I think he may end up being the typical Bill Self project that turns into a stud by his senior year.

Just my .02.
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Elmarko returning is actually shocking to me. Not something you’d expect to see in this era.
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I find it really encouraging.

He’s looking at being the 6th guard in the rotation (behind Harris, Mayo, Storr, Griffen, and Kugel) as of now. I’d assume he’s still ahead of McDowell.

Elmarko has NBA athleticism, so there’s still a decent ceiling (unlike Pettiford or someone like that). Anything we get from him is a bonus, and maybe he develops into a nice 4 year player.
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Competition for minutes also tends to breed success. Definitely a very good thing if he’s pushing the guys ahead of him to play at a high level.
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What's the thought on Furphy? Is he for sure gone?
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I’d think so.

Weak draft class means he’ll go higher than he should.

He isn’t eligible for NIL.

I don’t see any reason for him to come back, though I’d love it if he did.
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Insiders think Furphy is 100% gone.
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Elmarko has something you can't teach or learn.

He's really fast.

If he can just fix *waves arms* all THIS
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He’s an NBA athlete. No doubt about that.

If basketball doesn’t work, give him to Leipold to just run some 9 routes.
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No Kugel.

Would’ve been a fine depth piece. No major loss though with the other signings.

I believe Coleman Hawkins is in the portal. With all the guards we have now, he might be a better fit.

6’10” PF who can shoot the 3. We haven’t been linked to him if he drops out of the draft, but we also didn’t really have room before.
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I haven't been following Kugel at all, just saw something the other day that was basically Self saying "Not sure he's coming here." What was the deal with that?
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Some sort of academic issue. Doesn’t sound like it was a surprise.

At Kansas, we have a pretty high bar for our student athletes. We’d never prioritize success on the court over success in the classroom.
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