The 2021–22 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in the

2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2021 and concluded on March 13, 2022. The 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 15 and concluded on April 4 with the c ...

, which was the Jayhawks' 124th basketball season. The Jayhawks, members of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

, played their home games at

Allen Fieldhouse Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas. It is home of the Kansas Jayhawks men's and women's basketball teams. The arena is named after Phog Allen, a former player and head coach for the Jayhaw ...

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

. They were led by 19th year

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

head coach

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...

. The Jayhawks finished the season 34–6 and won their 4th NCAA Tournament National Championship, their first since

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, and their 6th National Championship overall.

Season notes

The Jayhawks experienced massive roster turnover in the offseason having lost eight players to transfers, graduation, and entering the draft, but added a recruiting class ranked in the top 15 of every major recruiting website, and 4 transfers. They had more new players on their roster than returning players. Despite the turnover, the Jayhawks entered the season with high expectations.

Joe Lunardi Joseph Lunardi is an American college basketball analyst for ESPN. He was born in Philadelphia, attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, as well as Damien High School in CA, and is a Saint Joseph's University alumnus. Lunardi ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

projected them as a 1 seed in his initial 2022 NCAA tournament bracketology. The Jayhawks renewed their rivalry with Missouri on December 11. The Jayhawks defeated

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

102–65. On April 2, 2021, Kansas signed Self to a lifetime contract. The contract will automatically add an extra year to every year he coaches until his retirement or death. On October 14, 2021, when the Big 12 Preseason Media Poll was published, Kansas was projected to finish first in conference standings, which is the 19th time in 26 seasons of the Big 12's existence that the Jayhawks have been selected as the preseason favorite. They received 8 first-place votes and 80 total points. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(AP) released their preseason poll on October 18, 2021. The Jayhawks were ranked 3rd in the preseason poll. It was the 10th consecutive, 16th under Bill Self, and 24th time since the 1992-93 season KU was ranked 7th or higher in the preseason AP poll. It was also the 16th consecutive season KU was ranked in the preseason poll. It also marked KU being ranked in the preseason poll 31 of the previous 32 seasons. After losing to Baylor on February 26 and TCU on March 1, the Jayhawks lost back-to-back games, which is only the 12th losing streak of any length under Self. The Jayhawks defeated Texas on March 5 to clinch their 63rd regular season conference title, extending their NCAA record. It was also their 20th Big 12 title. It was also the 16th Big 12 title in the previous 18 seasons. The Jayhawks would also win the 2022 Big 12 tournament to earn their 50th NCAA Tournament appearance and their NCAA record extending 32nd consecutive. The tournament title was the Jayhawks 12th Big 12 Tournament title and their 16th overall. After defeating Providence in the NCAA tournament, Kansas passed Kentucky to be the winningest program in the nation. The Jayhawks defeated North Carolina in the National Championship game 72–69 after trailing 25–40 at halftime. They trailed by as much as 16 completing the largest comeback in National Championship game history.

Roster changes

Coaching staff changes

Entered draft

Below are players who declared for the NBA draft. The class given is what their class was for the 2020–21 season. Seniors from the previous season, due to receiving an extra year of eligibility from the NCAA, had to declare to intention to enter the draft. If a player goes undrafted, they are eligible to return.

2021 recruiting class

, - , colspan="7" style="padding-left:10px;" , Overall recruiting rankings: 247 Sports: 7

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

: 13

: 6

Transfers

Incoming

Outgoing

Walk-ons

Roster

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA tournament because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the NCAA granted 2021 seniors an extra year of eligibility. Mitch Lightfoot and Chris Teahan both will return for an extra year. Additionally, transfer Remy Martin has taken advantage of the extra year of eligibility by the NCAA. A player with "COVID-19" next to their name indicates that player is in COVID-19 protocols.

Schedule

COVID-19 impact

Unlike the previous year, Kansas is allowing full capacity crowds. The Jayhawks finished their non-conference schedule without any positive tests for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. They did, however, cancel two non-conference games and postpone a third conference game due to COVID-19 issues with their opponents. The non-conference games that were canceled were replaced with new opponents. The Jayhawks had their first confirmed case of COVID-19 on February 1, 2022, when

Ochai Agbaji Ochai Young Agbaji (born April 20, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a senior at the University of Kansas, Agbaji was named a consensus first-team All-American ...

tested positive for the virus.

Results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=, Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style=, Big 12 Tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball seasons

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

2021 in sports in Kansas 2022 in sports in Kansas

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons