Kansas guard Luke Barnett (1) watches a late second-half three go in against Middle Tennessee on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026 at Allen Fieldhouse. Nick Krug/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas coach Bill Self remarked on Thursday of this year’s team, “We had average depth a month ago, and now we’ve got really good depth because of what’s transpired.”

The late-stage additions of Tre White, Melvin Council Jr. and Trey Kaufman-Renn, all of whom became eligible via injunctions against the NCAA in various courts, did indeed transform the Jayhawks’ roster mere weeks before the season, reassigning potential starters to bench roles. And on Friday, KU provided a clear indication of the benefits that arrangement might provide down the line.

After the Jayhawks’ starters set the tone with a stellar defensive first half against Middle Tennessee and then in turn opened the second period strong, their reserves — led by the likes of forward Keanu Dawes (eight points and eight rebounds) and center Christian Reeves (10 points and five rebounds), who likely would have started if KU never got White or Kaufman-Renn — maintained a high level of intensity down the stretch.

“I didn’t think we took a step back when we went to our bench, and I don’t think that’s been really the case so far,” Self said.

The result was a consistent level of dominance throughout what became an 89-45 victory at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I think it’s just a testament to what we’ve been saying all year about the depth that we have,” Dawes said. “Obviously the starters do a really good job of starting the game off, but it’s up to the people who come off the bench, it’s up to us to kind of keep that going, keep the same intensity.”

Dawes started as a freshman at Rice, came off the bench as a sophomore at Utah under one coaching staff, then started as a junior with the next. While KU is still trying to determine the best way to deploy him this time around — “We just got to figure out if he’s going to be a sixth man, or is he going to be a guy that we can play small with and switch five,” Self said — he’s provided value both on the glass and through increasingly wide-ranging offensive and defensive applications (he knocked down two 3s on Friday).

“I think I’m pretty comfortable,” Dawes said. “I think over my college career I’ve had a lot of different roles I’ve had to play, and I think all of it’s kind of led to this point, just being able to adapt to whatever’s asked of me.”

He, Reeves and guard Leroy Blyden Jr., who chipped in another self-assured performance as an alternative ball-handling option to Council and Taylen Kinney, currently headline the bench unit. But Self also singled out Dennis Parker Jr. as a player who he felt might have deserved more minutes than he got on Friday.

Parker, a transfer wing from Radford, displayed hustle — grabbing three offensive rebounds and at one point diving on the floor for a loose ball — and a smooth offensive game, which netted him six points and seven boards in 13 minutes.

“I think he’s a really good player,” Self said. “I think he certainly can be a guy that you can put out there against any competition and have him look comfortable. He just needs to probably get some more minutes with the guys that are getting the majority of the minutes.”

Perhaps no Jayhawk got a better reception off the bench than freshman wing Luke Barnett, who after a brief pre-halftime cameo emerged again with 7:02 remaining in the contest. By the 5:03 mark, he had knocked down three 3-pointers, demonstrating the prolific shooting ability that Self has compared to that of former one-and-done Gradey Dick.

Dawes and Kaufman-Renn both said that sort of display was nothing new for the freshman from Laguna Niguel, California.

“I actually told the guys, as soon as he checked in, I said, ‘Watch, he’s going to make three in three,'” Self said. “Of course, I didn’t have a crystal ball. But I did think he was due to shoot the ball well. And he can shoot it, but that was great to see because he really hadn’t had a chance yet.”

The true test of the Jayhawks’ newfound depth will be how it fares against higher-level competition — perhaps as soon as on Tuesday night against Kentucky — when these less battle-tested players are thrust into action. But so far it has lived up to billing.

“We expect the people that are coming off the bench to do just as well, if not better, every single game,” Kaufman-Renn said. “That’s how deep our team is, realistically. We hold everybody to the same standard, and they really stepped up today.”