Bryson Tiller Could Take on a Bigger Role for Kansas Than Most Expect

The 2025-26 Kansas basketball team has a deep second unit that it can utilize to give its starters rest and keep everyone fresh.

While Flory Bidunga is penciled in as the team's starting center and Tre White will likely start alongside him as a hybrid forward, the only remaining big men on the roster are Paul Mbiya and Bryson Tiller.

Mbiya, a former NC State commit, backed out of his pledge to the Wolfpack in June and joined the Jayhawks. He is an incredible defensive specimen with extraordinary athletic tools, but he doesn't offer much outside of the paint.

On the other hand, Tiller could be in for a bigger role than most people would assume. He stands at 6-foot-11, 240 pounds, and is more versatile than Mbiya.

Tiller can play inside the paint and is also an incredible athlete, but he runs the floor much better than Mbiya.

Coming out of high school, he was ranked the No. 42 player in the country and was expected to take on a big role with the team in the future.

The Overtime Elite product joined the team midseason in 2024–25 and redshirted, though he underwent ankle surgery that slightly stunted his growth. However, he appears to be back at full health and will certainly give Mbiya a run for his minutes.

Tiller has been praised for his ability to score in the mid-post and face-up game, often serving as the roll man off of screens.

He has even shown a propensity to shoot mid-range jumpers off the pick and pop, despite it not being his strong suit. Tiller knocked down a few 3-pointers here and there at OTE and shot 68.5% from the free-throw line in the 2023-24 season, a stark difference from Mbiya's 51.6% clip at the charity stripe with ASVEL Villeurbanne in France.

This is not suggesting that Mbiya won't be the backup five-man behind Bidunga — he is still the obvious choice — but it is never a bad thing to have extra depth on the bench. KU has a loaded backcourt, yet not nearly as many players to spell the starters in the frontcourt.

Bidunga is clearly the big man to watch for the Jayhawks this year, but Tiller could begin to see minutes sprinkled in early in the season against less competitive opponents to see where he stands with the rest of the team.

If he progresses, he could eventually become the team's starting power forward or center by the 2026–27 season depending on how he performs.