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Kansas is gearing up to play its first matchup of the 2026-27 campaign tonight at Allen Fieldhouse. Following a grueling preseason in which the Jayhawks faced a pair of top-15 schools, they'll have an easier task against Fordham.
This has been one of the more unusual offseasons for the Jayhawks, who added three players to the roster just a month before the season. The NCAA's ever-changing eligibility standards have actually worked in KU's favor, allowing it to add a pair of key starters from last year's team and a former 20-point-per-game scorer in the Big Ten.
Because of how loaded this unit is on paper, there are a lot of questions about what the starting lineup will look like when the year is in full swing. However, there's still uncertainty about how the opening group will look when they take the floor in the Phog this evening.
Here's how we expect the starting lineup to look tonight before the score inevitably gets out of hand.
Kansas' Projected Starting Lineup vs. Fordham:
Taylen Kinney | Melvin Council Jr. | Tre White | Tyran Stokes | Christian Reeves |
In all three preseason exhibitions, Bill Self paired two lead guards together, and all signs point to Council and Kinney being those players. They both looked excellent in the exhibitions and outplayed Toledo transfer Leroy Blyden Jr. by a large margin.
White and Stokes are locks for the starting lineup, but the final spot is a true toss-up. The coaching staff can opt to go with any of Christian Reeves, Keanu Dawes, or Paul Mbiya to round out the big-man spot.
While Reeves only played six minutes in the last game against Duke, he still received the nod to open the contest as Self experimented with other rotations. Dawes had previously been penciled in as a sure-fire starter, but the changes to the frontcourt have made that a little less straightforward.
Kansas Jayhawks guard Tre White (3) yells out after a three point shot made against Duke Blue Devils during the exhibition game inside Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas on Oct. 25, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
The coaching staff has been intrigued by the idea of KU playing small and using Dawes as a small-ball five, and they can try the same thing when former Purdue star Trey Kaufman-Renn enters the picture as well. However, he's still not in shape to start a game and probably won't see much action over the first few weeks.
It ultimately doesn't matter too much who the starting five is since KU will end games with whoever is playing the best each night, but it's still interesting to look into the possibilities. This is our projected lineup right now, but it could absolutely change over the course of the season.
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