KANSAS CITY — Once upon a time, influential college basketball coaches like North Carolina’s Dean Smith and Georgetown’s John Thompson limited media access to their freshmen. They and many of their peers would shield their youngsters from the press until the first game, and maybe for their entire season. And when those coaches spoke about their freshmen, it was often to admonish the public to tamp down expectations. They’re just kids, they’d say. Let them be kids!
If that way of thinking reads like ancient history, then the future was on full display Wednesday in Kansas City, where the Big 12 held its men’s basketball media day inside T-Mobile Center. It was a futuristic event that felt more like a night club party than a forum for press conferences. That was altogether fitting considering it’s getting harder to determine the difference between a sporting event and a show these days.
It was a crowded, festive eight hours, but there was no question as to who the leading men were: BYU forward A.J. Dybantsa and Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, who are two of the three best freshmen in the country (Duke’s Cameron Boozer is the third) as well as projected top-three picks in the 2026 NBA Draft. A pair of other highly touted freshmen, Arizona’s Koa Peat and Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou, were also on hand. What was most striking about Dybantsa and Peterson was not just the level of attention they received, but how unfazed they were by it. For the assembled media, it was a circus. For Dybantsa and Peterson, it was another day in the life.
As they shuffled from microphone to microphone, I pulled each player aside for a brief one-on-one conversation. I searched for some inkling that they were overwhelmed or discomfited by the spectacle. I found none. Here’s what they had to say.
Peterson: “I’m built for it. I’m wired for it. I trust the work and put it all on God. Once the season starts, I’m gonna log off all my social media, not even look at any of it because I know there’s gonna be ups and downs throughout the year. That’s basketball.”
Dybantsa: “I just hoop. Like, that’s the easiest answer. When you get on the basketball court, you ain’t gonna see no social media posts. I’ll be honest, I’m on it, I’m a kid. But I also have a team that runs it, so I’m not seeing everything.”
I asked BYU coach Kevin Young if he considered leaving Dybantsa in Provo instead of bringing him to media day along with 6-foot-1 sophomore point guard Robert Wright and 6-foot-5 senior guard Richie Saunders. “Not really. I mean, it is what it is,” he replied. “These are our three best players. We’re gonna go as these guys go. I’m a rip-the-band-aid-off type guy. Just call it like I see it.”
I offered Young the opportunity to encourage media and fans to tamp down expectations when it comes to Dybantsa. He declined to take it. “He’s gonna have a lot of responsibility,” Young said. “Our whole locker room knows it. That’s what you want. You want him to be able to answer the call, so I’m trying to downplay anything. We’re gonna ride with him.”
There may have been a time when all of this seemed new to college freshmen, but as is the case with most of the top recruits, it’s simply an extension of the life they’ve lived for many years. Yes, there’s a lot of too-much-too-soon when it comes to fame and the power of social media, but those forces also condition players for what they’ll face this season and beyond. The good news is, all the talking will be over soon, and the real show can begin. Whatever happens, Dybantsa and Peterson will be ready.
Here are some other headlines from Big 12 media day:
HOUSTON: Tugler is accelerating his recovery from off-season foot surgery
Cougars junior forward Joseph “JoJo” Tugler, who is the top interior defender and shot blocker in the country, missed the entire summer following foot surgery in late April. Tugler was cleared for basketball conditioning on Sept. 25, but coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff took the prudent approach and brought him back slowly. That approach is now history. “We had a scrimmage on Saturday and to say he was awful would be the biggest understatement in the world,” Sampson told Hoops HQ. “We realized we’re taking it too slow. We’ve got to go faster.”
As a result, Sampson pushed Tugler to go all out this week. The team had another scrimmage on Tuesday, and Tugler played 18 out of 20 minutes. “And nobody went harder than him,” Sampson said. “He hadn’t done anything for a month. He’s just a freak of nature. There’s nothing about him that makes sense.”
Kalifa Sakho, a 6-foot-11 fifth-year senior from France who transferred in from Sam Houston State, is the only other Houston player who has been battling an injury. Sakho had back surgery in August and was recently cleared to practice. Both players should be available for Houston’s exhibition game against Mississippi State on Sunday.
KANSAS STATE: Can P.J. Haggerty avoid the Coleman Hawkins trap?
The Wildcats’ 2024-25 season ended with a loss to Baylor in the Big 12 tournament. They finished with a 16-17 record and did not play in a postseason tournament. The lingering image from the season wasn’t the loss or the sub-.500 record, but the tearful outburst in the locker room from Coleman Hawkins. The 6-foot-10 senior forward made huge headlines the previous off-season for receiving a reported $2 million NIL payout in exchange for his transfer from Illinois. When Hawkins and the team failed to live up to those expectations, it made for an unpleasant experience, particularly with regard to the vitriol Hawkins faced on social media.
As the new season begins, the Wildcats face a similar challenge with the arrival of P.J. Haggerty, a 6-foot-4 junior point guard who transferred from Memphis. Like Hawkins, Haggerty was one of the highest-paid players in the portal season. Haggerty will probably have a better supporting cast than Hawkins had last year, but he and the team will only succeed if they can avoid the external pitfalls that tripped them up last year.
That’s goes for the coaches as well. “I fell into the trap, too. I had to change during the year, and I changed a little too late,” coach Jerome Tang told Hoops HQ. “Expectations without grace leads to disappointment, and I wasn’t giving enough grace to those guys because they were getting paid. So I learned that I needed to still be the coach that was there to help young men become men, not treat them like employees.”
TEXAS TECH: J.T. Toppin is ready to take the next step
It is virtually unprecedented for a player to turn down the chance to be a first-round NBA Draft pick. Yet, that’s what 6-foot-9 forward J.T. Toppin did in May when withdrew his name from the draft pool to return to Texas Tech for his junior season. It was the second straight year Toppin tested the waters. There are a lot of reasons why Toppin came back to Lubbock — four million, actually, which is the reported dollar amount he got in NIL money — but among those was an emphasis on his ability to play in the NBA as a rookie, and not just be a high pick. “I could sense he did not want to play in the G League,” Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland told Hoops HQ. “All the indications we got were he would have been middle to late first round. But if the money is going to be the same for one season, maybe even better, why not come to where you enjoy the community and enjoy being a college student?”
Being the best player on a college team also affords more opportunities for development than being a role player on an NBA team. As good as Toppin has been his first two years (he was voted Mountain West Freshman of the Year at New Mexico and was Big 12 Player of the Year last season at Texas Tech), he needs to evolve from being a dominant paint scorer to a versatile wing. McCasland said he intends to give Toppin more responsibilities, not only to prepare him for the pros, but also because it will make the Red Raiders that much harder to beat.
“His ballhandling is tremendous. We’ll let him play with the ball in transition and attack with his feel for scoring,” McCasland said. “Even back in high school, he has always been a role player. Now he has an understanding of how to impact winning as an individual and a playmaker. It wasn’t until the end of last season that he finally emerged. He knows if he can really sink his teeth into how to really impact on both ends as a real player, then when he gets his opportunity in the NBA, he can recognize it and do it.”
IOWA STATE: Lipsey “on track” to play in season opener
The Cyclones are in great position to extend their four-year NCAA Tournament streak (they’re ranked No. 16 in the AP preseason Top 25 and No. 13 in KenPom’s preseason rankings), but they need Tamin Lipsey to be healthy and effective. The 6-foot-1 junior point guard, who was a first team All-Big 12 selection last season, has not practiced since spraining the MCL in his right knee on Sept. 23. Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelerger told Hoops HQ that he is optimistic Lipsey will be available when the season begins on Nov. 3. “When it happened, he was given four to six weeks to return, and he’s right on track for that,” Otzelberger said. “He has been running on the treadmill and building up his flexibility and strength. We believe that sometime early to middle of next week he’ll get cleared to return doing basketball activities. Then we can reintegrate him into practice.”
The danger with these types of injuries is that a player might be healthy enough to play, but if he’s not physically at his best he risk re-injury. The good news for Iowa State is that the schedule starts off with relatively easy games leading up to The Players Era Festival during Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas, where they will open up against St. John’s and Creighton. Otzelberger said he will be careful about how much strain he puts on Lipsey at the outset in order to make sure he’s prepared for the long haul.
“His health and his well-being are the number one thing,” Otzelberger said. “We want him to be ready for the duration of the season. We have to be mindful of the choices that we make, to not overdo it or push it too fast, too soon. That’s important because when you’ve missed a month of time, you can’t make up for that.”
ARIZONA STATE: Bobby Hurley Enjoying Life As A Grandpa
Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley gets funny looks sometimes when he’s wandering the campus looking for animals and cacti. It’s not because Hurley has lost his mind, it’s because he is Face Timing with his 15-month-old granddaughter Rowan, who delights in seeing birds and desert plants from her home in New Jersey. Hurley, 54, and his wife Leslie had their first child, daughter Cameron, when Bobby was 24. He told Hoops HQ he’s the first of his friends to become a grandfather. Hurley originally wanted his granddaughter to call him “Pop,” but when Rowan heard Leslie repeatedly refer to him as “Bob,” she decided that’s what she could call him as well. “It’s really cool for a grandfather to be called by his first name,” Hurley said.
Cameron, her husband and Rowan live in New Jersey, so Hurley likes to bridge the distance with frequent FaceTime calls. His favorite time is when Cameron, her husband and Rowan stay at Hurley’s house in Tempe. Hurley is among the first of his friends to become a grandfather, and he said the change has given him a fresh perspective on life, work and basketball. That will be especially important this winter given that this is likely to be his 11-year run as the head coach at Arizona State could be ending unless the Sun Devils drastically exceed expectations.
“It really puts your life in perspective,” he said. “When I get home from work or a bad practice, seeing her smile lights up the room. It’s been a blessing because I was well set up financially out of college to be able to start a family right away. So it has been a blessing because my wife and I are active enough and young enough to really spend a lot of time with her.”
