This KU Jayhawks guard admired a Bulls star. How you’ll be able to tell next season

At times, new Kansas guard Joseph Yesufu is likely to have tendencies that remind Kansas fans of Devon Dotson.

There’s good reason for that. Both grew up around Chicago — Yesufu in Bolingbrook, Illinois — and mimicked the same Bulls star.

“I love Derrick Rose,” Yesufu said of the former Bulls and current Knicks guard Tuesday while working at Washburn coach Brett Ballard’s camp in Topeka. “That’s my favorite player of all time.”

Knowing this explains another major part of Yesufu’s game ... and one that will be evident early on as KU’s coaches and players become accustomed to his style of play.

Yesufu relies heavily on floaters offensively — a shot he crafted after watching Rose growing up.

“I always wondered why he always would throw up those shots,” Yesufu said. “So I went to the gym and just started practicing them, and then that’s when it just became part of my game.”

An offseason workout video posted to Yesufu’s Twitter account shows this isn’t just talk. Most of the highlights in the short clip are Yesufu probing the lane on the drive, then rising up with one hand to put in high-arching two-point attempts.

Yesufu says it’s a tool that was developed, in part, because of his shorter size. The 6-foot guard began practicing the specialty shot at around 10 years old, using it as an equalizer when going against taller shot-blockers inside.

“It was definitely tough for me to get it at first,” Yesufu said, “but once I started getting it, I started going to my left hand too.”

He continues to perfect the craft today. Yesufu says in some of his individual sessions, he’ll work on his floater for about an hour, starting at the left block then making his way around the lane to the right block. After that, he’ll scoot back a few feet and continue his way around the court from a bit further out.

“A lot of my teammates get irritated by it, because I shoot those a lot, and they fall a lot,” Yesufu said. “It’s kind of a mid-range shot, and it’s unstoppable. A lot of people can’t stop this. They don’t know when you’re gonna drive. They don’t know when you’re just going to jump up, shoot the floater or just shoot the mid-range shot.”

Synergy Sports Technology’s logs confirm that Yesufu was among the nation’s leaders last year in utilizing this particular shot attempt.

As a sophomore at Drake, Yesufu averaged 2.2 shots on “runners,” which was the 17th-highest mark for any player nationally.

Here’s where things become nuanced, though. Yesufu made 39% of those runners according to Synergy’s tracking, while ranking in the 56th percentile in points per possession on the shot classification.

The runners — because of their difficulty and value (two points and not three) — ranked as one of his least-efficient options in the half-court.

This doesn’t mean, however, that there won’t be a place for those tries next season. For one, the ability to have a floater makes Yesufu more well-rounded offensively, which could force defenses to respect his drive while potentially leaving him open on the perimeter for threes.

That threat also is part of a skill-set that KU’s guards lacked last season. The Jayhawks struggled especially with creating their own shots off the bounce, which was an area where previous players like Dotson, Frank Mason and Sherron Collins thrived.

Yesufu also said KU’s coaches brought him in with hopes that his speed could help improve the team in transition.

“A lot of teams like Baylor, they love playing fast. That’s what Coach (Bill) Self is trying to get back to, playing even faster,” Yesufu said. “So that’s what I feel I can provide for the team.”

Yesufu will be part of a revamped KU backcourt that added experience this offseason. Self also received a commitment from Arizona State transfer point guard Remy Martin, who could be the Big 12 preseason player of the year if he decides to join the Jayhawks instead of turning pro. Iowa State graduate transfer Jalen Coleman-Lands, an outside shooting specialist, also is set to enroll at KU in the coming months.

Self also added freshman guards Bobby Pettiford and Kyle Cuffe and will return starters Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji if the latter returns for his senior campaign. Dajuan Harris, the Jayhawks’ second-best assist man last season, also is back as a top reserve.

“I feel like we do have the best team in the Big 12,” Yesufu said, “and I can’t wait to show it next year.”