Kansas point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. has been around the program for so many years that the list of teammates that he’s had to stay on about being aggressive on game nights is both pretty long and pretty impressive.
So, where does current KU senior KJ Adams rank on that list?
“Ask him,” Harris said on Saturday night after top-ranked Kansas’ 86-51 rout of Furman at Allen Fieldhouse.
Both Jayhawks smiled at that point, with Harris flashing that fatherly, I-told-you-so grin and Adams smiling and staring down at the floor as if searching to find his way out of trouble.
That was the only time Adams found trouble on Saturday night, after tying a career-high with 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting in his second straight dominant game.
Adams’ big week and sudden breakout is not a coincidence. Nor is it the product of a couple of good matchups.
It’s his time.
And more importantly, he knows it. Knows it, accepts it and embraces it.
The 6-foot-7 senior from Austin doesn’t exactly fit the profile of the most recent Jayhawks to take ownership of their teams during their senior seasons.
Frank Mason III did it years ago. Devonte’ Graham followed him. Marcus Garrett started the next wave. And Ochai Agbaji took the baton from there.
After that it was Jalen Wilson when Agbaji left and Kevin McCullar Jr., at times, during his final season without Wilson.
While they all had varying levels of success with it — from All-Americans and national champions to frustration-filled seasons – the one thing they had in common was the position they played.
All guards or wings. All with the ball in their hands as much as anyone on the roster, looking to make plays for themselves and others.
That’s the most notable way that Adams differentiates himself from the crowd. But don’t think for a second that his impact doesn’t have the chance to be just as powerful.
He still makes plays for people. In fact, he makes more plays for others than he does himself. Both by design and by circumstance.
We might just be seeing the beginning of it, and if it grows from here, buckle up. Because the urgency that Adams feels about this being his last dance is only going to get stronger and stronger as the season moves along.
KJ Adams during a trio of games early on in the 2024-25 Kansas basketball season. [Chance Parker photos]
In some ways, it was there last season. For both Adams and Harris. But because the two KU vets are team-first to the core and always so willing to defer to others, they allowed the 2023-24 season to be McCullar’s time with newcomer Hunter Dickinson in a starring role.
Dickinson’s still around. And his numbers and impact will be crucial to KU’s success this season.
But no one on this roster has the potential to do what Adams can do. Not only from a skill standpoint. But from the perspective of his impact.
That’s what makes him and his role so important this season, and also what makes these last two games such a great sign for what lies ahead.
In each of them, Adams did not force anything nor go out of his way — or off script — to get his. Instead, he took what the defense gave him, made a positive impact wherever he could — defense, the glass, extra effort, leadership, etc. — and kept Harris’ urging to be aggressive and his own perpetual game plan top of mind throughout the night.
That game plan? Dominate.
“Of course,” the physically imposing, fantastically experienced KU senior said. “That’s kind of my motto. Dajuan helps me with a lot of that stuff. He always tells me in practice, be aggressive, be aggressive, whatever that is.”
And by always, he means always.
“Literally every day,” Harris said. “Because I know how good KJ is. KJ’s unselfish like me. And I be trying to tell him, ‘Just let me do the passing; you just do the scoring.’ I be telling him to be aggressive all the time.”
KJ gets what that means. He understands it as well as anybody because he’s seen it so many times.
He saw Agbaji lead Kansas to a ring, with teammates Christian Braun, David McCormack and Remy Martin picking their spots to take over, too.
He saw Wilson become an absolute warrior, carrying everything he could on his shoulders for the good of the team and landing as a first-team All-American when he was finished.
And now it’s his time.
He’ll do it different because he is different. But it has the potential to have serious impact all the same.
That’s not to say that Dickinson’s double-doubles and Harris’ dynamic dimes and timely 3-pointers won’t matter. Nor does it mean that Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, Rylen Griffen, Flory Bidunga and the rest of KU’s supporting cast can just kick back and put it on cruise control.
For this team to get where it wants to go, it’s going to take all of them.
But a strong case can be made that the whole thing can center around Adams and his wonderfully well-rounded, crazy consistent, invaluably versatile game, which next will be on display at 7:30 p.m. tonight, when top-ranked KU takes on Creighton in Omaha on FS1.
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