The Kansas Jayhawks’ highly touted freshmen swingman, Kelly Oubre Jr., didn’t get off to the most ideal start to his inaugural, and likely only, campaign under head coach Bill Self.
In his first nine outings, Oubre primarily watched from the sidelines, only playing more than eight minutes twice, and his lack of freedom and performance went hand-in-hand, as Oubre scored only 21 points on 7-23 shooting, with a mere 2.2 boards per game to pair with his scoring struggles.
But that jitter-filled, bench-warming Oubre is no more, as he’s now rapidly living up to his tremendous hype and becoming a key piece for the Jayhawks.
It all began with a 23-point, 10-rebound outburst against Lafayette, which gave Oubre his first career double double in Kansas’ 96-69 win, and sometimes with young talents playing on the big stage, all it takes is that initial emergence to find their rhythm, as seen by ESPN.com.
“Today was a confidence booster, something to get me started,” Oubre said. “I’m just going to keep doing the things I’ve been doing, be patient and enjoy the process.”
That process would soon become much more enjoyable for Oubre, as he would continue to crack double digits on the scoreboard after putting up at least 12 points in three of his next five games, including a 20-point, seven rebound night on 8-of-12 shooting against Kent State.
Over this five-game stretch, Oubre has now reached the averages of 13.5 points and seven rebounds, with some remarkable shooting percentages at .508 from the field and .481 from beyond the arc, which is about as efficient as it comes from deep.
The one exception to this recent surge came in a lowly performance on the road against No. 21 Baylor, where Oubre shot only 1-7 in Kansas’ 56-55-escape victory in the final moments.
But as you may know by now, things are just getting underway in the loaded Big 12, and the road ahead for the Jayhawks is quite bumpy with Kansas’ next four games coming against ranked conference foes. They’ll begin with No. 24 Oklahoma State, which is followed by No. 11 Iowa State, No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 20 Texas.
Just as each of these games are very winnable, they’re also very losable and a key component for Kansas to avoid the latter will be the recent production increase from Oubre, and whether or not that will continue when competition starts to get stiffer on a nightly basis.
Just as Oubre said after his breakout game against Lafayette, he gained a “confidence booster,” something to get him started. There’s never been any question as to whether or not Oubre would grow into an elite caliber talent at Kansas, which explains why he came to Lawrence as a McDonald’s All-American.
But great players rise on the big stages and although he’s only a freshmen, Oubre could arguably become the most pivotal piece of this Jayhawks team as conference play continues and each game starts to matter even more than the last.
It will be exciting to watch how Oubre reacts with game plans focusing more on him with a heightened level of talent on the opposing teams, but one thing that’s clear is he’s coming into his own as of late and that’s some scary news for the rest of the Big 12.