In 2021, we had Jones-Okafor/Angilau-Majors-Angilau/Imade-Kerstetter. All but Majors were upperclassmen. Once they got over running into each other versus ArKansas, they were solid.
I am assuming that to get all the Banks-Campbell class we needed room and an open lane to early playing time. I donāt remember all the specifics but would think that Imade, Okafor could have been invited back but werenāt for this reason, amongst maybe others.
But for sure in 2022, we had now multi-year starters in Jones (4th year?), Majors (3rd year) and Angilau. We for sure could have had Karic (it was mentioned that he couldnāt play G, a position he started at a playoff SEC school ). We could have had Parr, a non-freshman but future starter on a playoff team, or Johnson, who at a minimum started at another Big 12 school. Iād assume Banks was a day 1 starter.
So youāve got Banks-Angilau-Majors-Open-Jones. Angilau gets hurt so now two spots looking for serviceable players. Potential options from 2021 were Imade/Okafor (thinking they could have gotten a Covid year), Parr, Karic, Johnson (maybe he was already gone) and Conner. And what 6 other frosh. It was not ideal but workable. I believe we chose youth over some maturity. Thatās fine for the end goal, but it likely hindered the short term.