Three Kansas Basketball Storylines to Watch Ahead of Green Bay Game

With the Kansas basketball season opener just a few hours away, Jayhawk fans are collectively excited to see what the 2025–26 campaign will bring.

Bill Self is entering his 23rd year at the helm and is looking for much better fortunes than he has endured in recent seasons.

The Jayhawks will host the Green Bay Phoenix for the first contest of the regular season inside Allen Fieldhouse. There are several important storylines worth monitoring ahead of the matchup, so here are three things to watch for tonight.

Three Kansas Storylines to Watch vs. Green Bay

Dec 22, 2023; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; A detail view of the logo on basketballs prior to a game between the Kansas Jayhawks and Yale Bulldogs at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

3. The Team’s Offensive Identity

Green Bay certainly won't be one of the more formidable defenses KU faces, but it should be intriguing to see the ways Kansas looks to score.

All offseason, Coach Self has said that the team's best offense comes from running the floor in transition. This roster has a lot of uber-athletic and talented pieces who can use their length to score around the rim.

On the other hand, the Jayhawks probably won't have the best halfcourt sets right away, so establishing the offense's identity early should be an important factor.

2. Darryn Peterson's Debut

All eyes will be on Peterson, who is making his official college debut despite technically playing in the first scrimmage against Louisville.

The freshman phenom is going to bring NBA scouts to every game, as he is one of the most highly touted prospects in recent memory.

While Peterson missed Kansas' last game with cramping and a minor bug, he appears to be good to go and should have another dominant offensive performance tonight.

1. How Certain Newcomers Perform

Unsurprisingly, there are still a few newcomers who haven't fit in as quickly as they'd hoped. Such is the case when teams undergo complete roster overhauls in the offseason.

For example, Loyola Chicago transfer Jayden Dawson is starting the year off on the bench and hasn't looked strong yet, scoring just two points across KU's first pair of scrimmages. However, starting wing Kohl Rosario also looked troublesome, shooting 1-for-9 from the field for only three points in two games.

Other newcomers who are having a tough time acclimating to Coach Self's system include Paul Mbiya and, to an extent, Tre White, who Self wants to see cutting and rebounding more than settling for jump shots.

All these players have plenty of time to gel together, but it is important that they begin to click ahead of the North Carolina game.