Yeah I'm thinking I'm back
Hello again. Welcome back to Streak Talk, your favorite Jayhawks basketball email newsletter in the ‘vibes’ subcategory. We’ve finally migrated from Substack over to Buttondown, which I liked because it was simple… I’ll get into the ‘why?’ of it later, in case you’re curious.
March Madness? Ha, that’s for absolute schmucks. Real heads are all about that portal madness, the reality of which we’re in the thick of right now. Flory Bidunga is back. Tre White and Jalen Dawson are in. Darryn Peterson is locked in for now, even though everything about the landscape right now makes me feel extremely nervous about that. We’ve got a roster to fill out!
Before I get moving on anything, I need to shout out the god Mike Vernon’s indispensable The Hearings newsletter and text chain, an outlet that’s reported the news before anyone else.
OK WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT IT I GUESS
I was tempted to just skip talking about last season, and others have done excellent work with that diagnosis. (Also check out Devon’s touching remembrance of Bob Davis).
The problem with last season was that everyone was the problem. I think we all saw what happened, right? It was pretty plainly in front of us, every Hawks fan from casual to ‘mental illness’ arrived at the same exact conclusions. We stunk, and we had too many guys who stunk. It might be best for all of us (me included) to leave it at that. Moving on!
DARRYN PETERSON
I have not been this excited about a KU freshman since I was a kid. Darryn Peterson should absolutely cook in Self’s system — we’ve had a handful of number one overall prospects (Josh Jackson, Josh Selby, Andrew Wiggins) but none of them fit quite as nicely into Self’s system as Peterson might. Jackson played out of position, admirably. Wiggins was a big wing who couldn’t put the ball on the floor. Selby never got going… I’m still not exactly sure what happened to Josh Selby.
Peterson plays smaller than he is — this is a good thing. He moves like a smaller player but he’s a long 6’5, and this dynamic will pay out for the Jayhawks. He is self-sustaining offensive engine, a gifted creator who’s also a three-level scorer. The hype is immeasurable — Dru Jones, LeBron’s high school coach, called DP the best player he’s seen… since LeBron. KU paid DP and adidas chipped in — he already is part of one of their campaigns, which, phew.
Here’s where my anxiety kicks in — Darryn Peterson is only playing college basketball because of an outdated rule. Like mega-prospects before him, he may have absolutely no business playing college basketball. If he were draft eligible, he’d probably go #2 this season after Cooper Flagg, and probably is even in the discussion for #1. (NBADraft.net has him as the #2 overall pick for the 2026 Draft). What stops Peterson from exploring pro ball elsewhere? How sturdy are these NIL arrangements? If DP picks up an injury during the season, does he have incentive to pack it in, knowing his prospect status is pretty teflon-level at this point?
This is the stuff that keeps me up at night. College basketball is broken. Everything feels like it’s built on quicksand. Help me, Darryn Peterson, you’re my only hope.
CHASE BUFORD PROPAGANDA SECTION
This season is going to be Succession: Jayhawks, basically. As Self seems closer than ever to meaningful retirement, there’s going to be constant chatter among our (generally agitated) fanbase about who takes the throne after him. History suggests the Jayhawks will go after a proven winner, even if that means reaching outside the Jayhawk extended family — Dusty May, Nate Oats, Tommy Lloyd, we’ll be hearing those names plenty because everyone will be hearing those names plenty.
Chase Buford, a member of the 2008 title team, came back to KU last season to join the staff as an off-the-bench assistant. I immediately found this move intriguing. Buford, who is San Antonio GM RC Buford’s son, has won a lot as the head coach in pro basketball, first in the G-League and then overseas in the NBL, winning back-to-back titles with the Sydney Kings. This move felt like a demotion for Chase… but was it?
I don't think Buford takes this job unless succession is a possibility, even if it’s a remote one. As the college landscape changes, it’s very possible that a new profile of college coach emerges.
The cult of personality types — Coach K, Roy, Self some day — will be out of the game, making way for a young grinder/bagman type who lives and breathes basketball and will go anywhere where he’s working in the game. Buford fits this description. He’s a very good coach, I think. He needs to move to the bench and take a more prominent role before anything like this becomes real.
Some bench changes are coming. Stick a pin in this one.
BOOKKEEPING BORING BUT I’M SORRY
While winding down on Substack, I mentioned the reasons for doing this.
The entire Streak Talk archive is available here, so if you’re fishing for old stuff, it’s here now, too. I haven’t taken my Substack down just yet, so do your thing however you want and it won’t cost you.
Speaking of money… we’re not gonna do that over here, at least right away. There’s some admin costs that, if you feel compelled to donate, you can do so by sending me some money on Venmo or something, reply directly to me if you’re interested in doing that.
Another thing I want to mention — I probably won’t post quite as frequently as I used to. So, keep that in mind. Also, if you subscribed a while ago when this newsletter was on the other platform, I kept my mailing list and if you no longer want to be on it, you can unsubscribe at the bottom of this email.
Here’s the new subscription page. Pass it along if you feel like it! Rock Chalk.