On Johnny Furphy, Lance Leipold’s contract + Big 12 expansion | KU Jayhawks Q&A

The Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team may have raised its overall ceiling by inserting freshman Johnny Furphy into the starting lineup.

The Australian guard has averaged 11 points and five rebounds in two games since joining the starting five. Moreover, KU’s had some of its best offensive games of the season with Furphy in the starting lineup.

KU coach Bill Self is raving about him.

“I’m excited about him,” Self said. “It’s not that he’s going to do anything spectacular, although he can, especially in transition and offensive rebounding. It’s the other guys feel comfortable playing with him. I think they play better with him in the game.”

Furphy’s emergence is huge for the Jayhawks. Not only is he looking to be the sharpshooter Kansas has lacked, it’s clear his teammates like playing with him.

The difference in the KU veterans’ trust for Furphy vs. Jackson is night and day.

With that, let’s get to another Kansas Jayhawks Q&A!

Is there anything to the Furphy emergence and his family trip that caused him to miss a game or is this purely coincidental? — @mikvogel

A little bit of both. I’m sure he was a little homesick, so going home allowed him to rest, reset and recharge. And that enabled Furphy to be ready to play when he returned to America.

I don’t think it was anything more than that — though we may never know.

With Zona joining the Big 12 next year and the conference already being loaded, do you think the Big 12 should sill look to expand the conference? — @capitaljayhawk

I honestly think the Big 12 should constantly be looking to expand. Soon it’ll be one of the weaker conferences as the Big Ten and SEC become even more powerful.

I think commissioner Brett Yormark understands that, so I expect expansion is something he’ll keep looking to do in the coming years.

Should Timberlake be getting more minutes than he’s currently getting? Should Marko be getting less minutes based on his current production in conference games? – @JReber16

Timberlake will probably see his minutes go up and down, depending on the matchup. But as Self has said, he needs to stay ready for when he’s needed.

As for Jackson, I think his minutes will naturally go down as Furphy becomes entrenched in the starting lineup. Jackson’s ceiling is high, but its clear that he hasn’t quite figured out the college game yet.

Is this something you think HCBS would ever do (using an offensive coordinator like Purdue’s Matt Painter)? Or will he stick with a more “generalist” approach to his sideline help? — @JAndrew_Cochran

I’d never say never, but I think Self would typically stick to a generalist approach. It’s hard to imagine him changing his ways this late in his coaching career.

What is taking so long in an announcement of Leipold’s new contract extension? — @bddeck925

Things like this just take time. It has to be formally signed, of course, and I’m sure there’s some fine print that needs to be looked over by both sides.

Don’t worry. I expect an announcement in the weeks ahead.