Kansas Star Sends Message to Nation's No. 1 Overall Player After Major Announcement

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Rodney Knuppel | Last updated Apr 10, 2025 12:38 PM ET

Flory Bidunga and the Kansas Jayhawks will enter the 2025-2026 college basketball season with a major chip on their shoulder.

The 2024-25 season was not what they anticipated as they fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Bidunga played in 36 games, starting six of them.

During his 16.3 minutes per game on the court, he scored 5.9 points per game and recorded 5.4 rebounds per game.

After the season, Bidunga entered the transfer portal, and there was talk he would leave Lawrence before he chose to return to Kansas.

Bidunga explained his decision with Through the Phog. On Thursday, the young Kansas star sent a positive message to incoming freshman Darryn Peterson, reacting to his recent jump to No. 1 in the 2025 recruiting rankings.

"No surprise here," Bidunga said.

No surprise here https://t.co/3UegEKc6fz
— Flory Bidunga (@florybidunga) April 9, 2025

The top recruit in the nation, Peterson scored 26.1 points per game as a freshman in high school in Ohio.

After playing in West Virginia for a season, he finished his high school basketball career at Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif. His senior season saw him score 23.1 points per game and add 9.1 rebounds per game.

Peterson chose Bill Self and the Jayhawks over numerous other schools.

His final list included Kansas State, Ohio State and USC. Self spoke about Peterson when he chose the Jayhawks and had this to say, "Darryn's the best player we've recruited since we've been here. He's a special talent."

Bidunga and Peterson are both likely to be part of a brand-new starting lineup in Lawrence.

Jayden Dawson recently committed to the program after playing a season ago at Loyola. Tre White is another addition after playing at Illinois and scoring 10.5 points per game.

Kansas will be in search of its fifth national championship. Their last title came in 2022. The Jayhawks have been to the Final Four 16 times in school history. Their first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament to Arkansas was the first time they didn't reach the second round since 2006, when they lost to Bradley in the first round.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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