Student Union

By Braeden Mueller | Arizona State

In what was the bigger upsets in recent recruiting history, Ben Simmons took his talents to……wait for it…. LSU! The basketball capital of Louisiana, LSU! At the same time his Godfather, an assistant coach on the LSU staff, realized he just duped one of the best players in the country to sign for his program, Simmons probably realized he messed up very soon.  Instead of taking his talents to one of the most heralded programs in the country, Kansas University, he decided that he would “pave his way” and go to a lackluster program which was sure to disappoint this lottery pick. So what if KU won the recruiting battle it so rightfully deserved?


The first question we must ask is, where would he fit in on KU? At the time KU would be the undisputed consensus number one team in the nation and have the arguably best frontcourt in the history of college basketball. This combination of Bragg, Ellis, Traylor, Lucas, and Simmons would’ve led to some huge playing time decisions by Bill Self. It is not just the frontcourt, KU had a dandy of a backcourt too with the likes of Mason, Graham, Selden, Vick, and finally, the UkRAINian (whose name I do not dare to try to spell, but let’s call him Svi). With this star-studded roster, the exact dilemma would be how Coach Self would integrate all these monsters to the floor. So let’s think, who would get left off the rotation in this scenario?

The first name that I think and know would be out of playing time would be Carlton Bragg. This man was also a highly touted recruit who ended up being the only freshman to play in all KU games that year, averaging 9 minutes and under 4 points. Bragg is a raw talent, he needs to be developed KU fans, but against an already established Simmons, he is going to lose that battle. Perry Ellis is safe for playing time in this scenario, not going to contest that. Next up, Jamari Traylor who would play in 37 games averaging under 3 points a game. Traylor is more of a defensive specialist, but my opinion is that he would lose playing time in a battle with Simmons. Landon Lucas is undoubtedly in the Perry Ellis column of playing time, he was an all-Big-12 pick and contributed on both ends of the floor. Simmons who at LSU played both guard and forward to some degree would probably be a backup/share time with Lucas if any scenario arose in my mind. Maybe Self would put him in the backcourt as a flex, but in a crowded front court, it is difficult to theorize who would lose playing time for this prodigy.

A question arises when I think, what would Simmons bring to KU in this scenario?  Simmons would be an offensive presence, defensive presence, and even yes, a court presence. At LSU, he led the SEC in rebounds per game with about 12 and contributed about five assists per game for a solid 5th in the SEC. Simmons truly did it all at LSU, but with not a great supporting cast the game plan revolved around Simmons and his ability to draw the double team or defenders. At KU, he would be involved with a system that revolves around team play, sharing the biscuit, and defense. Self’s system is one of success (count consecutive Big-12 championships) that will turn any player into a threat, but when you add in Simmons, then the system becomes so much better. Simmons who had an issue with turnovers (lead the SEC) probably because his team around him was mediocrity compared to what KU would bring to the table. At KU, he wouldn’t be handling the ball much. Instead, he would be on the block, setting ball screens, and getting open lanes to the hoop. Simmons, who couldn’t shoot a pull-up jumper for the life of him could instead cut to the lane, find backdoor screens and cuts then the system would be miraculous. Bill Self has a history of taking these talented teams to the next level by having them buy into his system, and I couldn’t see Simmons resisting the urge to take a secondary role in exchange for a national title. The rotation would be perfected, with Simmons more than likely playing a flex and come March and KU would make a run to the Final Four and win the Natty.

To think about what could’ve been with Simmons at KU is shocking. Instead, we are talking about how Simmons college career was as much of a bust as Adam Morrison (remember?). There still is too many questions to be clear, but in my head, this scenario possibly could’ve been the best KU team in history.