Kansas Target Darrion Williams Commits to NC State: What's Next for the Jayhawks?
Thursday was a somber day for Kansas basketball.
Early in the afternoon,
6-foot-7 Italian sensation Dame Sarr officially committed to Duke. While that decision wasn’t quite unexpected, as the Blue Devils had become the frontrunner in the Sarr sweepstakes, there was still hope for the Jayhawks, and it served as the final nail in the coffin for Kansas’ pursuit of the top-20 Class of 2025 prospect.
Hours later, the Jayhawks received more bad news:
Top transfer target Darrion Williams picked NC State and head coach Will Wade over Kansas.
Williams – who averaged 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists last season at Texas Tech – was the Jayhawks’ priority transfer target, and a seemingly perfect fit in the Kansas lineup.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) May 22, 2025BREAKING: Texas Tech transfer Darrion Williams, one of the top players in the portal, has committed to NC State, he told @On3sports.
The 6-6 junior picks Will Wade over Kansas.
Averaged 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game this season.https://t.co/S1tFtHIr7h pic.twitter.com/y0xsVuhVAe
Rated as On3’s sixth-best transfer portal prospect, Williams is an immediate impact player and would have given the Jayhawks a roster with Final Four capabilities.
With Williams and Sarr officially off the board, a question naturally arises:
What’s the next step?
Kansas is clearly in desperate need of a starting forward and frontcourt depth as a whole. Notable names such as RJ Luis (St. John’s) and Jamir Watkins (Florida State) remain available in the transfer portal, although it remains unknown whether either of them will even return to college basketball (both remain in the NBA Draft process).
More importantly, while Luis and Watkins would give the Jayhawks another go-to scoring option, neither would solve any frontcourt issues, as they’re both premier wings.
North Carolina transfer Ven-Allen Lubin is a name worth monitoring. With three seasons of high-major basketball under his belt, Lubin has the experience and size (6-foot-8) to slide into Kansas’ starting lineup.
Last season at UNC, Lubin averaged 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds. Pairing Lubin with Flory Bidunga would give the Jayhawks a solid one-two punch in their starting frontcourt.
Regardless of what route coach Bill Self and the Jayhawks decide to go in the coming days, it’s clear that Kansas needs to attack the top remaining prospects now, before the talent pool – which has already thinned out – is entirely decimated.
