So, the Flory Bidunga saga finally has a landing spot. After a whirlwind of speculation, multiple reports—including those flagged by Misryoum—are saying the former Kansas big man is headed to Louisville. I tried reaching out to his camp for a quick comment, but, predictably, his guardian and agents haven’t gotten back yet. It’s quiet on that front, really quiet.
Bidunga’s move feels like a gut punch for KU, even if the writing was kind of on the wall for a while. He had that massive breakout year in Lawrence, snagging first-team All-Big 12 honors and just dominating on the defensive end. Actually, wait, he was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, which makes his exit sting even more. He spent this past weekend visiting the Cardinals, and now it looks like he’s locked in. Or maybe he’s not—no, the reports are pretty solid.
It’s funny how these things go. He put up 13.3 points, 9.0 boards, and 2.6 blocks a game as a sophomore. And look, this isn’t his first time in the portal dance; he did the same thing after his freshman year before choosing to head back to Kansas. This time, though, it feels different. He’s got the NBA scouts hovering, definitely. Some teams love his versatility, specifically the idea of him playing small-ball center, even if there are legitimate questions about how his offense will translate at the next level. Right now, he’s mostly hovering around that mid-to-late second-round projection. You can smell the stale coffee in the press room just thinking about the draft math involved here.
Honestly, staying in college for another year—or transferring—is probably the smarter financial play than scraping by as a late second-round pick. It’s a classic NIL vs. NBA gamble.
Now the Jayhawks are staring at a massive hole in the paint. It looks like both of their starting bigs are checking out. Bryson Tiller has been making the rounds, visiting Missouri, and Paul Mbiya is still lurking in that weird limbo state—undecided about hitting the portal himself. The roster is changing, shifting, just constantly moving under Bill Self’s feet. It’s hard to keep track of who’s actually staying on the bench anymore, honestly.