2015–16 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, which is the Jayhawks 118th basketball season. The Jayhawks played their home games at Allen Fieldhouse. They were led by 13th year head coach Bill Self and were members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 33–5, 15–3 in Big 12 play to win their 12th consecutive regular season Big 12 title. They defeated Kansas State, Baylor, and West Virginia to be champions of the Big 12 tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the tournament's overall #1 seed. They defeated Austin Peay, UConn, and Maryland to advance to the Elite Eight where they lost to Villanova.

2015–16 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
Big 12 tournament champions Big 12 regular season champions World University Games Gold Medal Maui Invitational tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 1
Record	33–5 (15–3 Big 12)
Head coach	Bill Self (13th season)
Assistant coaches	Jerrance Howard (3rd season) Norm Roberts (5th season) Kurtis Townsend (12th season)
Home arena	Allen Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 2014–15 2016–17 →

2015–16 Big 12 men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 Kansas †	15	–	3		.833			33	–	5		.868
No. 8 West Virginia	13	–	5		.722			26	–	9		.743
No. 7 Oklahoma	12	–	6		.667			29	–	8		.784
Texas	11	–	7		.611			20	–	13		.606
No. 21 Baylor	10	–	8		.556			22	–	12		.647
No. 22 Iowa State	10	–	8		.556			23	–	12		.657
Texas Tech	9	–	9		.500			19	–	13		.594
Kansas State	5	–	13		.278			17	–	16		.515
Oklahoma State	3	–	15		.167			12	–	20		.375
TCU	2	–	16		.111			12	–	21		.364
† 2016 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll [1]

The Jayhawks 12 consecutive regular season Big 12 titles was at the time the longest active consecutive conference title streak in the nation, as well as only being one shy of the NCAA record of 13, which is currently held by UCLA who won 13 in a row between 1967 and 1979.^[2]

In July 2015, the Jayhawks represented the United States at the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea. The Jayhawks, along with Nic Moore from SMU and Julian DeBose from Florida Gulf Coast, went 8–0 to win the Gold Medal.

Preseason

Departures

Graduation

Name	Position
Christian Garrett	G

Early draft entrants

Name	Position	Year
Kelly Oubre Jr.	G	Freshman
Cliff Alexander	F	Freshman

Transfers

Name	Position	Old school	New school
Josh Pollard	G	Kansas[3]	Utah Valley
Dwight Coleby	C	Ole Miss	Kansas[4]

Recruiting

Kansas recruits at the 2015 McDonald's All-American Boys Game

Cheick Diallo

Carlton Bragg Jr.

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
LaGerald Vick SG	Memphis, TN	Douglass High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	May 13, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 85
Carlton Bragg Jr. PF	Cleveland, OH	Villa Angela – St. Joseph High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jan 8, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 89
Cheick Diallo PF	Kayes, Mali	Our Savior New American	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Apr 28, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 95
Overall recruiting rankings:      Scout: #14     Rivals: #15     247Sports: #13      ESPN: #14

World University Games

Main article: Basketball at the 2015 Summer Universiade – Men's tournament

In April 2014, the Kansas basketball team was selected by the United States International University Sports Federation (US-IUSF) to represent the United States in the 2015 World University Games. Kansas was selected as the team to represent the U.S. from the schools that expressed interest. This was the second time a college team represented the United States in the World University Games; University of Northern Iowa had finished 9th in 2007.

Current university students or recent graduates, born between Jan. 1, 1990, and Dec. 31, 1997, were eligible for the 2015 Games. Only U.S. citizens were eligible for the U.S. team; therefore Cheick Diallo, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, and Dwight Coleby (from Mali, Ukraine, and Bahamas respectively) were ineligible. The Kansas travel party, consisting of 12 competitors and 11 staff (23 total), left Lawrence on June 28 and lived in the athlete village throughout the Games. There were two non-Jayhawks on the U.S. roster: guards Nic Moore of SMU^[5] and Julian DeBose of Florida Gulf Coast,^[6] replacing injured Kansas guard Devonte' Graham.

Team USA won all their matches in the tournament, beating Germany 84–77 in double overtime on July 13, 2015, to win the gold medal.

Roster

2015–16 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Frank Mason III 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Petersburg, VA G 1 Wayne Selden Jr. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Boston, MA G 2 LaGerald Vick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Memphis, TN G 4 Devonte' Graham 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Raleigh, NC G 5 Evan Manning 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Lawrence, KS G 10 Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Cherkasy, Ukraine G 11 Tyler Self 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) RS Jr Lawrence, KS F 13 Cheick Diallo 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Kayes, Mali G 14 Brannen Greene 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Monroe, GA F 15 Carlton Bragg Jr. 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Cleveland, OH F 21 Clay Young 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS So Lansing, KS F 22 Dwight Coleby Jr.  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Nassau, Bahamas F 31 Jamari Traylor 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Sr Chicago, IL F 33 Landen Lucas 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr Portland, OR F 34 Perry Ellis (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Wichita, KS F 42 Hunter Mickelson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS Sr Jonesboro, AR	Head coach Bill Self (Oklahoma State) Assistant coach(es) Norm Roberts (Queens) Kurtis Townsend (Western Kentucky) Jerrance Howard (Illinois) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: July 23, 2015

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
World University Games Exhibition
June 24, 2015* 7:00 pm		at Team Canada	W 91–83		28 – Mason III	10 – Traylor	6 – Selden Jr.	Sprint Center (8,235) Kansas City, MO
June 26, 2015* 7:00 pm		vs. Team Canada	W 87–76		22 – Selden Jr.	10 – Selden Jr.	11 – Mason III	Sprint Center (8,415) Kansas City, MO
July 2, 2015* 10:00 pm		vs. Team China	W 93–56		13 – Vick	–	–	Seolwol Girls School Gymnasium  Gwangju, South Korea
World University Games
July 4, 2015* 12:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. Team Turkey Preliminary Round – Group D	W 66–57	1–0	19 – Selden Jr.	9 – Selden Jr.	4 – Mason III	Dongkang College Gymnasium  Gwangju, South Korea
July 5, 2015* 8:30 pm, ESPNU		vs. Team Brazil Preliminary Round – Group D	W 81–72	2–0	23 – Selden Jr.	8 – 3 Tied	7 – Mason III	Dongkang College Gymnasium  Gwangju, South Korea
July 7, 2015* 2:30 pm		vs. Team Chile Preliminary Round – Group D	W 106–41	3–0	23 – Mason III	14 – Lucas	5 – Selden Jr.	Muan Indoor Gymnasium  Gwangju, South Korea
July 8, 2015* 12:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. Team Serbia Preliminary Round – Group D	W 66–65	4–0	21 – Selden Jr.	9 – Ellis	6 – Moore (SMU)	Dongkang College Gymnasium  Gwangju, South Korea
July 9, 2015* 10:00 am, ESPNU		vs. Team Switzerland Preliminary Round – Group D	W 96–57	5–0	18 – Debose (FGCU)	7 – Vick	6 – Moore (SMU)	Muan Indoor Gymnasium  Gwangju, South Korea
July 11, 2015* 12:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. Team Lithuania Medal round – Quarterfinals	W 70–48	6–0	18 – Mason III	9 – Lucas	4 – Mason III	Gwangju University Gymnasium  Gwangju, South Korea
July 12, 2015* 6:30 pm, ESPNU		vs. Team Russia Medal round – Semifinals	W 78–68	7–0	23 – Ellis	6 – 2 Tied	4 – Mason III	Dongkang College Gymnasium  Gwangju, South Korea
July 13, 2015* 9:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. Team Germany Medal round – Finals	W 84–77 2OT	8–0	22 – Selden Jr.	10 – Ellis	6 – Mason III	Yeomju Gymnasium  Gwangju, South Korea
Exhibition
November 4, 2015* 7:00 pm, Jayhawk TV/ESPN3	No. 4	Pittsburg State	W 89–66		22 – Ellis	12 – Ellis	8 – Graham	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
November 10, 2015* 7:00 pm, Jayhawk TV/ESPN3	No. 4	Fort Hays State	W 95–59		16 – Ellis	9 – Bragg Jr.	6 – Mason III	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
Regular season
November 13, 2015* 7:00 pm, Jayhawk TV/ESPN3	No. 4	Northern Colorado Maui Invitational Opening Round	W 109–72	1–0	18 – Greene	7 – 2 Tied	9 – Mason III	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
November 17, 2015* 9:20 pm, ESPN	No. 4	vs. No. 13 Michigan State Champions Classic	L 73–79	1–1	21 – Ellis	6 – Lucas	6 – Graham	United Center (21,461) Chicago, IL
November 23, 2015* 9:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 5	vs. Chaminade Maui Invitational quarterfinals	W 123–72	2–1	18 – Tied	11 – Lucas	7 – Tied	Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Maui, HI
November 24, 2015* 9:00 pm, ESPN	No. 5	vs. UCLA Maui Invitational semifinals	W 92–73	3–1	24 – Ellis	6 – Ellis	7 – Mason III	Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Maui, HI
November 25, 2015* 9:00 pm, ESPN	No. 5	vs. No. 19 Vanderbilt Maui Invitational final	W 70–63	4–1	25 – Selden	8 – Ellis	3 – Mason	Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Maui, HI
December 1, 2015* 7:00 pm, Jayhawk TV/ESPN3	No. 4	Loyola (MD)	W 94–61	5–1	18 – Selden Jr.	6 – 5 Tied	5 – Mason III	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
December 5, 2015* 2:15 pm, ESPN2	No. 4	Harvard	W 75–69	6–1	21 – Mason III	8 – Lucas	5 – Mason III	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
December 9, 2015* 7:00 pm, Jayhawk TV/ESPN3	No. 2	Holy Cross	W 92–59	7–1	15 – Selden Jr.	5 – Bragg Jr.	5 – 2 Tied	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
December 12, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 2	vs. Oregon State Kansas City Shootout	W 82–67	8–1	22 – Selden Jr.	9 – Ellis	6 – Mason III	Sprint Center (18,612) Kansas City, MO
December 19, 2015* 1:00 pm, Jayhawk TV/ESPN3	No. 2	Montana	W 88–46	9–1	18 – Ellis	9 – Ellis	9 – Mason III	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
December 22, 2015* 10:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 2	at San Diego State	W 70–57	10–1	20 – Ellis	6 – Traylor	3 – 3 Tied	Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA
December 29, 2015* 8:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 2	UC Irvine	W 78–53	11–1	14 – Ellis	9 – Ellis	6 – Mason III	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
January 2, 2016 3:00 pm, CBS	No. 2	No. 23 Baylor	W 102–74	12–1 (1–0)	24 – Selden Jr.	6 – 2 Tied	4 – 3 Tied	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
January 4, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 1	No. 2 Oklahoma	W 109–106 3OT	13–1 (2–0)	27 – Ellis	13 – Ellis	6 – Mason III	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
January 9, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 1	at Texas Tech	W 69–59	14–1 (3–0)	17 – Mason III	10 – 2 Tied	5 – Mason III	United Supermarkets Arena (14,231) Lubbock, TX
January 12, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	at No. 11 West Virginia	L 63–74	14–2 (3–1)	21 – Ellis	7 – Ellis	3 – Tied	WVU Coliseum (12,097) Morgantown, WV
January 16, 2016 1:00 pm, ESPN	No. 1	TCU	W 70–63	15–2 (4–1)	11 – Selden Jr.	9 – 2 Tied	6 – Graham	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
January 19, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 3	at Oklahoma State	L 67–86	15–3 (4–2)	14 – Mason III	5 – 2 Tied	5 – Graham	Gallagher-Iba Arena (11,383) Stillwater, OK
January 23, 2016 1:00 pm, ESPN	No. 3	Texas	W 76–67	16–3 (5–2)	26 – Ellis	10 – Lucas	6 – Graham	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
January 25, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	at No. 14 Iowa State	L 72–85	16–4 (5–3)	23 – Ellis	9 – Lucas	4 – Graham	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, IA
January 30, 2016* 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	No. 20 Kentucky Big 12/SEC Challenge	W 90–84 OT	17–4	33 – Selden Jr.	9 – Ellis	5 – Graham	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
February 3, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 7	Kansas State Sunflower Showdown	W 77–59	18–4 (6–3)	19 – Ellis	6 – Lucas	4 – 3 Tied	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
February 6, 2016 11:00 am, ESPN	No. 7	at TCU	W 75–56	19–4 (7–3)	23 – Ellis	10 – Ellis	6 – Mason III	Schollmaier Arena (6,516) Fort Worth, TX
February 9, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 6	No. 10 West Virginia	W 75–65	20–4 (8–3)	21 – Ellis	16 – Lucas	4 – Graham	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
February 13, 2016 1:30 pm, ESPN	No. 6	at No. 3 Oklahoma	W 76–72	21–4 (9–3)	27 – Graham	10 – Lucas	3 – Mason III	Lloyd Noble Center (12,247) Norman, OK
February 15, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	Oklahoma State	W 94–67	22–4 (10–3)	18 – Selden Jr.	10 – Lucas	6 – Mason III	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
February 20, 2016 5:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 2	at Kansas State Sunflower Showdown	W 72–63	23–4 (11–3)	16 – Mason III	8 – Lucas	5 – Mason III	Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) Manhattan, KS
February 23, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 2	at No. 19 Baylor	W 66–60	24–4 (12–3)	19 – Mason III	10 – Lucas	7 – Graham	Ferrell Center (8,259) Waco, TX
February 27, 2016 11:00 am, ESPN	No. 2	Texas Tech	W 67–58	25–4 (13–3)	17 – Mykhailiuk	8 – Lucas	4 – Graham	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
February 29, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 1	at No. 23 Texas	W 86–56	26–4 (14–3)	20 – Ellis	8 – Lucas	6 – Mason III	Frank Erwin Center (16,540) Austin, TX
March 5, 2016 3:00 pm, ESPN	No. 1	No. 21 Iowa State	W 85–78	27–4 (15–3)	22 – Ellis	7 – 2 tied	5 – Mason III	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
Big 12 Tournament
March 10, 2016 1:30 pm, ESPN2	(1) No. 1	vs. (8) Kansas State Quarterfinals	W 85–63	28–4	21 – Ellis	6 – Ellis	8 – Graham	Sprint Center (18,972) Kansas City, MO
March 11, 2016 6:00 pm, ESPN2	(1) No. 1	vs. (5) No. 22 Baylor Semifinals	W 70–66	29–4	20 – Ellis	7 – 2 tied	8 – Graham	Sprint Center (18,972) Kansas City, MO
March 12, 2016 5:00 pm, ESPN	(1) No. 1	vs. (2) No. 9 West Virginia Championship	W 81–71	30–4	27 – Graham	7 – Lucas	7 – Mason III	Sprint Center (19,046) Kansas City, MO
NCAA tournament
March 17, 2016* 3:00 pm, TNT	(1 S) No. 1	vs. (16 S) Austin Peay First Round	W 105–79	31–4	23 – Mykhailiuk	9 – Traylor	6 – Graham	Wells Fargo Arena (16,628) Des Moines, IA
March 19, 2016* 6:45 pm, CBS	(1 S) No. 1	vs. (9 S) UConn Second Round	W 73–61	32–4	22 – Selden Jr.	11 – Lucas	4 – 2 Tied	Wells Fargo Arena (16,824) Des Moines, IA
March 24, 2016* 8:40 pm, CBS	(1 S) No. 1	vs. (5 S) No. 18 Maryland Sweet Sixteen	W 79–63	33–4	27 – Ellis	11 – Lucas	6 – Selden, Jr.	KFC Yum! Center (19,399) Louisville, KY
March 26, 2016* 7:49 pm, CBS	(1 S) No. 1	vs. (2 S) No. 6 Villanova Elite Eight	L 59–64	33–5	17 – Graham	12 – Lucas	4 – Mason III	KFC Yum! Center (19,422) Louisville, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Central Time.

Source: ^[7]

Rankings

See also: 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	5	4	5	4	2	2	2	2	1	1	3	4	7	6	2	2	1	1	1	N/A*
Coaches	5	5	7	6	7	5	3	3	2	1	3	3	6	6	2	2	1	1	1	3

*AP does not release post-tournament rankings

References

1. "2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
2. "No. 2 Jayhawks beat Texas Tech for Big 12 title share". ESPN.com.
3. "KU walk-on Josh Pollard to transfer to school closer to home".
4. "Former Ole Miss center Dwight Coleby transferring to KU".
5. "SMU's Nic Moore to play with Kansas team at University Games".
6. "Florida Gulf Coast's Julian DeBose will join KU for World University Games".
7. "University of Kansas Athletics". University of Kansas.