The worst case scenario for Kansas has now officially been avoided as both Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor have announced their intention to return to Kansas for the 2011-2012 basketball season.
While the announcement from Taylor was somewhat expected, Kansas fans had been a little on edge considering the prospect of Thomas Robinson and the Morris twins departing for the NBA. With the fanbase still waiting on an announcement from the twins, Kansas at least knows that they will have one proven post player headed into next season.
"This was the most trying year of my life, I want to thank everybody and I can't wait to run up and down the court in a packed Allen Fieldhouse next year. I plan on busting my butt this summer to improve my game. I want to take more of a leadership role in us moving forward and winning another league championship and getting to the Final Four." - Thomas Robinson
What that means is that even with the twins possible departure, Kansas will have Robinson and Jeff Withey in place to anchor the front line. It also means that the Kansas big man rotation still has minutes to give as the staff continues to recruit this Spring. It's not likely that the combination of Withey and Robinson would command the same amount of minutes as the Morris twins did this season, that being the case the Jayhawks could still add two young post players that would have the opportunity to earn early minutes should the Morris twins ultimately declare.
As for Taylor's announcement, again it was the expectation, but it's also a welcome announcement. Kansas fans are still awaiting word on freshman Josh Selby but with Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson set in the backcourt, the Jayhawks will have some talented experience headed into the season. Now should Selby return and have a full season at his disposal, Kansas could once again be in the drivers seat for the Big 12 conference crown.
"The bottom line is we're going to work very hard this offseason and put ourselves in a position to play in that game again and come out with a different result." - Tyshawn Taylor
For Kansas that's all you can ask. When you're in a position to play in Elite Eight games as a one seed you are bound to lose players to early entry. Anytime you can carry over and develop a corp while adding more young talent to the pool, that opportunity perpetuates itself. Bill Self is one of the best in the business at doing that and at face value the return of Taylor and most importantly Robinson at least signals that the Jayhawks will once again have a presence on the national scene.
With two questions answered Kansas now awaits the final decision from Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris and Josh Selby. Once those pieces fall into place it will be a matter of how Bill Self and his staff can round out the recruiting class and then it's a countdown to Late Night. Either way, it's great news today for Kansas.