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In a not-so-shocking development Thursday the Kansas Jayhawks were voted #1 in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Poll. A ranking that has been anticipated since last April, when PG, Sherron Collins, and Center, Cole Aldrich, decided to return to Kansas for the 2009-10′ season. The Jayhawks received another boost in April when former Memphis guard, C.J. Henry, and his brother, the #3 recruit in the 2009 class, Xavier Henry, made the decision to attend Kansas after being released from his Letter of Intent when John Calipari decided to leave Memphis to take over as the new Kentucky coach. 

The decision by Henry immediately made the, already impressive, 2009 recruiting class for the Jayhawks one of the best in the country. The Jayhawks had received commitments from two of the best players in the 2009 class, along with 6’11″ Arizona transfer, Jeff Withey.

Electrifying PG, Elijah Johnson, decided on Kansas shortly after attending ‘Late Night in the Phog’ for his official visit to Kansas. With Johnson, the Jayhawks have a player that has a incredibly high ceiling. With his size, strength, and unbelievable athleticism, Johnson will bring highlight making plays to the Jayhawks. He also has the ability to be a frustrating defender to opponents and should be able to create many baskets in transition for the Jayhawks. Like many freshmen, Johnson will take time to develop at Kansas, but judging by Bill Self’s track record with developing players, Johnson’s potential could be seen sooner than later.

Also in October PF, Thomas Robinson, made his college decision as he committed to Kansas. The 6’9″ Robinson could make the biggest impact of all the Kansas freshmen early in the season. Calling Robinson a rebounding machine might not be enough when describing his hunger for the ball. Tenacious, tough, focused and just plain annoying to opponents is what Kansas fans will see when watching Robinson. His motor doesn’t stop and when on the floor with Aldrich, the Jayhawks might just be playing keep-away with opposing teams.

A number of players from the Sweet 16 team 0f 2008-09′ return to the Jayhawks. In addition to All-American candidates, Collins and Aldrich, the Jayhawks bring back guard, Tyshawn Taylor, who averaged 9.7 points and 3.0 assists per game last season. Taylor also finished as the top scorer for the U19 USA team this summer.

The Morris twins, Marcus and Markieff, raised a lot of eyebrows this summer when playing in the alumni game during Bill Self’s basketball camp. Both looked like they had clearly been busy in the weight room working on their bodies. It appeared that both had gotten leaner and added muscle to their frames. Especially Marcus, who looks to spend some time playing the SF position this season. If he continues to look in practice as he did during those games in June, Kansas coaches will enjoy having a 6’8″ forward that can both score in the post and consistently hit jumpshots from the perimeter. The taller Markieff will remain a post player for the Jayhawks, but with the added muscle to his frame, the Jayhawks hope to see him be able to create more space for himself offensively and to be more of a physical presence on the defense.

The 2008-09′ season allowed much needed playing experience for some players who saw little time during the 2007-08′ title season. Guards, Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar, who is ineligible until the second semester, will look to build on their 08′-09′ season where both showed the ability to, not only, play at a high level, but also came up big in crunch time for the Jayhawks. Reed was second in three point shooting percentage (over 100 attempts) by knocking down 39% of his 126 attempts. Reed’s three point shooting ability paid off big for the Jayhawks when he hit a number of game changing 3′s, including a dagger at Nebraska. Brady Morningstar averaged over 30 minutes per game for the Jayhawks last season, second on the team to Collins’ 35. Coming from no minutes the season before, Morningstar often appeared to be tired late in game, especially late in the season, something that shouldn’t be the case with the addition of Xavier Henry. Morningstar finished the season as the Jayhawks three point percentage leader, shooting 42% from 3 on 119 attempts. Morningstar really impressed on the defensive end for the Jayhawks as he was often assigned to guarding the opposing teams’ best perimeter scorer. Although he sometimes struggled to guard smaller, quicker guards, Morningstar was able to limit scoring opportunities for the opposition by recovering quickly off of screens, and getting into passing lanes where he often deflected a pass leading to a basket in transition.

With the addition of the 2009 recruiting class, the Jayhawks will take the court on November 13th with what is likely one of the deepest teams in the country. Xavier Henry will allow players like Morningstar to be more rested when on the court, as well as with Henry’s size and length, he will be a much needed addition, offensively and defensively, for the Jayhawks. With the added depth to this year’s roster, the Jayhawks will have play-makers on the court at any given time. On paper the Kansas coaches look to have potential match-up problems for opposing teams whether the starters are in or not. No matter the style an opposing team chooses to play against the Jayhawks, a quick look at the roster suggests that Kansas will have an answer. Big or small, quick or slow, the Jayhawkshave the players to match-up with any opponent. What separates the Jayhawks from other teams is that opponents don’t have the players to match-up with Kansas. Something that Kansas coach, Bill Self, will certainly exploit game in and game out.