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College basketball rankings: Kansas still No. 1 in Top 25 And 1 after suspension of Arterio Morris – CBS Sports
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Before transferring to Kansas this offseason, back in June 2022, Arterio Morris was arrested and charged with assault causing bodily injury following an incident that a police report stated left an ex-girlfriend noticeably bruised or scratched. Regardless, Texas, his first choice out of high school, still allowed Morris to enroll and play last season, presumably because the 6-foot-3 point guard was a five-star freshman, and schools sometimes overlook things when it comes to five-star freshmen.
Either way, after averaging 11.8 minutes per game for UT, Morris relocated to Kansas, where he was among the reasons the Jayhawks emerged as the favorites to win the 2024 NCAA Tournament. But Morris’ future at KU, or any other university with standards, is suddenly very much in doubt now that the Memphis native has been suspended from Bill Self’s program following a rape allegation made against him, according to a weekend report from The Kansas City Star.
Should Morris be considered innocent until proven guilty?
Sure — by the legal system.
But playing college basketball is not a right; it’s a privilege. And considering this is the second serious crime Morris has been accused of by different women in a span of 15 months, it’s totally reasonable for Kansas to take that privilege away and prepare to play this season without him. If the Jayhawks never get Morris on the court, it’ll be a blow to their depth, absolutely. But the possibility of that — or even the likelihood of that — is not enough to compel me to drop KU from the No. 1 spot in Version 21.0 of the 2023-24 CBS Sports Preseason Top 25 And 1 college basketball rankings because the Jayhawks still have a Hall of Fame coach and a probable starting lineup that looks like this:
As I’ve explained before, that’s a lineup with size, shooting and experience — one so strong that a five-star high school prospect like Elmarko Jackson might really begin games on the bench. Harris is arguably the country’s best run-the-team point guard. Timberlake shot above 41% from 3-point range on 6.7 attempts per game last season. McCullar is a double-digit scorer and two-time Naismith Memorial National Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist. Adams started 36 times for the reigning Big 12 champions last season. And Dickinson is maybe the best center in the sport not named Zach Edey.
Those five players have already combined to play parts of 17 seasons of college basketball, which means Kansas’ starting lineup will be one of the oldest in the sport. That’s an advantage in this era and among the reasons KU should still start the season at No. 1 even if Morris remains sidelined by another troubling allegation made against him.
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