Kansas forward Landen Lucas (33) pulls a rebound from Connecticut guard Rodney Purvis (44) during the second half on Saturday, March 19, 2016 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Landen Lucas (33) pulls a rebound from Connecticut guard Rodney Purvis (44) during the second half on Saturday, March 19, 2016 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The arrival of Late Night, which I’m sure you all read and watched plenty about in the past several days, brought a momentary interruption to our He Will, He Won’t, He Might series, but we’ll pick back up today with one of the unquestioned leaders of this Kansas team.

Senior Landen Lucas enters his final season as a Jayhawk as one of the most important pieces on the team because of his veteran presence, understanding of how the program runs and willingness to do whatever is asked of him.

After an up-and-down first few seasons in Lawrence, the 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward from Portland, by way of Japan, broke through in a major way last season and prepares to enter his final year in crimson and blue with a new mindset.

Not only that, but Lucas also appears to have put in some serious work in the weight room and looks leaner and even a little quicker and more explosive than ever before.

Here’s a quick look at a few things you should and should not expect from Lucas during the 2016-17 season.

In case you missed the first few installments of the series, be sure to click on the links to check out those.

He Will, He Won’t, He Might: Frank Mason

He Will, He Won’t, He Might: Devonte’ Graham

He Will, He Won’t, He Might: Josh Jackson

He Will, He Won’t, He Might: Carlton Bragg

Now, on to Landen Lucas…

He will: Be KU’s most reliable big man

This much seems to be a given. Not only is Lucas a veteran playing his fifth season in the program, but he also has the temperament and demeanor of an unflappable force. Rarely do you see Lucas lose his cool or even express his emotions, good or bad. He remains even-keeled at all times and maintains his focus on the task at hand as well as anybody on the floor.

Beyond that, he’s always incredibly well prepared and pays close attention to scouting report as well as his own strengths and limitations.

Lucas always has made defense and rebounding the area in which he hangs his hat and, in a program run by Bill Self, that’s the easiest and best way to get significant playing time and carve out a crucial role.

Heading into the 2015-16 season, Lucas remained an unknown and seemed destined to be a role player at best. But after a monster season, the senior enters the 2016-17 season as an obvious starter, one of the team leaders and a crucial member of this deep and talented Kansas roster.

He won’t: Be statistically as good as he was last season

That stretch that Lucas enjoyed toward the end of the season was beyond ridiculous. After being reinserted into the starting lineup, midway through the season, Lucas became a monster on the glass.

Starting with a 16-rebound performance against West Virginia in a revenge game for an earlier loss to the Mountaineers, Lucas enjoyed a stretch of double-digit rebounds in four of the next five games and recorded 7 or more boards in 17 of 18 games to finish the season, including the final three in the NCAA Tournament.

There’s no doubt that Lucas is capable of delivering numbers like those again. He’s so smart on the floor, plays so big and strong and knows that rebounding is the No. 1 reason he’s on the floor. But this year he’ll have more help. Not only will guards Frank Mason and Devonte’ Graham continue to chip in on the defensive glass, but newcomer Josh Jackson and sophomore Carlton Bragg also should do their share of damage on the glass, as well. That will limit the opportunities for Lucas’ rebounds and, in many ways, could be a blessing in that it will help keep him fresher for his always-tough defensive assignments.

In 18.3 minutes per game last season, Lucas averaged 5.8 points on 64.3 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds per game. Those numbers are certainly attainable again in 2016-17, but don’t be surprised if he falls a little shy of both of them. Doing so, however, will not mean that he doesn’t have a similar impact on the upcoming season.

He might: Be more of a scoring threat

Whether that means he actually scores more remains to be seen — and is probably rather unlikely. But Lucas worked hard on his offensive game this offseason, if for no other reason than just to give the Jayhawks the option to be able to throw it in to him and make opponents respect that.

Lucas, though a little slow in his execution, has good post moves and uses his strength well in the post. His problem always has been finishing at the rim. That’s why most of his buckets have come as a result of easy put-backs or dunks set up by solid plays made by KU’s guards. Look for that to continue, but don’t be surprised if Lucas shows the ability to hit that mid-range jumper with a little more regularity. It’s a shot he has a great deal of confidence in and believes he can hit.

Lucas’ offense rarely will be the first or even second option for Kansas on any given possession, and the fact that Lucas is down the food chain in terms of scoring options for this team is what makes it most likely that he’ll continue to be a defense/rebounding-first kind of player who, from time to time, will provide the bonus of a few quality offensive nights.

Last season, Lucas reached double-digits just four times in 36 games. Two of them came in the NCAA Tournament, though, and Lucas, now more secure than ever in his game and role on this team, should carry a lot of confidence from that into the upcoming season.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Landen Lucas (33) blocks a shot by Oklahoma State guard Joe Burton (4) during the first half, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.