Kansas center Paul Mbiya (34) tries to break free under the bucket during the second half of an exhibition game on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

The status of Kansas center Paul Mbiya has become a bit of an enigma in recent days.

On April 6, the day before the transfer window opened, 247Sports and On3 reported that Mbiya planned to enter the portal. But by all accounts and according to reports in the days since, he has not actually done so.

The final day to enter is Tuesday. As the days go on a return for Mbiya looks increasingly likely. But behind the scenes, his camp is still working on agreeing to terms with KU for him to come back to the Jayhawks for a sophomore season.

Yacine Fylla, who describes himself as Mbiya’s management, told the Journal-World in a series of social media messages on Thursday that Mbiya wants to return to KU and is “100% jayhawks.”

“But we are trying to get him the deal he deserves,” Fylla added. “He is on emotion. We need to help him understand it’s also a business.”

That objective may not ultimately be an impediment to Mbiya remaining in Lawrence for the 2026-27 campaign.

“At the end of the day he will be at the place he (chooses),” Fylla wrote. “And now it’s kansas!”

Mbiya, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Mbiya’s website says Fylla “discovered” him), first chose KU over the summer of 2025. He had initially been signed to N.C. State but had to leave after encountering issues with his name, image and likeness that made him look elsewhere, head coach Bill Self said at one point during the season.

Mbiya, who is 7 feet tall and 245 pounds with a 7-foot-8 wingspan, appeared in 21 games as a reserve big man for the Jayhawks. He played sparingly and looked quite raw in the early going, but at the end of the year Self said he was one of the team’s most improved players in recent weeks. He demonstrated that with a pair of standout performances in the NCAA Tournament, when he played more than he had at any point during the year and tallied eight points and three rebounds against Cal Baptist and four points and six rebounds against St. John’s.

KU could certainly use Mbiya back after Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller left in the transfer portal. The Jayhawks also have freshman post player Davion Adkins coming in and got a commitment from Utah transfer Keanu Dawes, a forward, on Thursday morning.