NEW YORK — Nearly a month ago, on Oct. 13, the Big 12 announced its preseason award winners. To the surprise of many, Kansas grad transfer Remy Martin Jr. won the honor of Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year.
It took exactly one game for that prognostication to look, let’s say, misguided.
Martin could well win a game or three with his scoring prowess this season, but it’s hard to see how he’ll be Kansas’ best player this season. Because on Tuesday night, KU senior Ochai Agbaji made a compelling argument that he’ll not only be Kansas’ best player — but also a potential All-American. The third-ranked Jayhawks made casual work of Michigan State, winning 87-74 and sending notice that this team could be deeper, stronger and more physically adroit than the Jayhawks group that went 21-9 and failed to get out of the first weekend of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
“I’m surprised,” Self told CBS Sports. “We controlled it. I would have thought first to 65 would win.”
At the center of this convincing season-opening victory was Agbaji, a senior, who finished with a game-high 29 points (9-of-17 from the field) and zero turnovers. He also drew seven fouls — by far the most he’s ever induced. As a result, Agbaji was perfect from the charity stripe (8 for 8) and helped pace Kansas to one of its best wins in the 11-year history of the Champions Classic.
“That’s what you should write,” Kansas coach Bill Self told me as we walked back to the victorious Kansas locker room following the game. He was raving about the immediate evidence of Agbaji’s growth. This kind of performance wasn’t something he could have provided seven months ago. There’s clearly an increased aggressiveness — which is the attribute that has been most missing from Agbaji’s game.
It’s understandable to a degree, though. As Self reminded reporters after Tuesday’s win, Agbaji was a three-star recruit rated deep into the 300s when Kansas offered him. He eventually climbed to be No. 132 in his 2018 class, but this was not a player expected to do much in his first or second second with the program. Self loved his long-term potential. Now that foresight is what has Kansas legitimately ranked as a top-five team to start the season.
And Agbaji is a model of what comes with patience, discipline, humility and years worth of quality minutes. Tuesday night sure looked like a star-turn performance. Agbaji averaged 14.1 points and 3.7 rebounds last season when Kansas had, statistically, one of its poorest seasons of the past 20 years. So he wasn’t exactly a beaming light at the center of the college hoops universe.
But he was good enough that he heavily debated leaving Kansas and going pro. He came close. How close?
“Really close,” he said. “I made the right decision.”
One game in, that rings true. Truth is, Agbaji was told what he needed to hear from NBA evaluators. Not only was he extremely unlikely to be drafted, he still had time and opportunity to improve his game in a couple of areas that still needed significant improvement. And on Tuesday night against the Spartans, he showed how seriously he took the constructive criticism.
“I also think when the NBA basically tells you you’re not good enough — I hate to say that,” said Self, “I didn’t ever tell him he’s not good enough. I told him he’s not going to be good enough unless he gets a killer instinct. But when they confirmed it I think he and Jalen both have really benefited by the process.”
It’s not like Agbaji’s been put in the position of needing to be The Guy because he’s the lone returning key veteran. Not at all. Kansas has four starters back (along with Christian Braun, David McCormack and Jalen Wilson). Braun and McCormack combined for 16 points, while Wilson served the first of his three-game suspension for a DUI charge.
“There’s still another step that he has to take in order to be an elite player in that is he’s got to become an assassin, from a confidence level and everything, and he certainly did that tonight,” Self said. “He looked great.”
Truth is, Self knows Agbaji’s knocking on the door of becoming an elite defender. If he gets there, Tuesday’s game probably won’t even register as one of his five or six best games this season. For a guy who can “be a little too sweet” on the court with his style, there’s no denying Agbaji worked a toughness groove into his mentality. That’s big for a Kansas team that lacked a certain something last season and will need an alpha to compete in a very good Big 12.
Seniors always deserve a bit more shine and respect than they get these days in college basketball. Agbaji can be an inspiring story for many. A guy who barely even started for his grassroots team now might — might — become an All-American this season. If Tuesday’s Agbaji is the player we’re going to get, we’ll probably also see him on an NBA roster a year from now.
