Kansas
From Indiana Mr. Basketball to Kansas ‘highest ceiling,’ Flory Bidunga ‘feels city behind me’
NBA draft prospects to watch in the March Madness tournament
USAT’s Mackenzie Salmon gives you four players to keep your eye on in March Madness that will most likely be heading to the NBA next year.
Sports Pulse
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Clad in crimson and blue just fits Kansas basketball freshman Flory Bidunga, much the same way it suited him the previous three years at Kokomo High School.
Bidunga leans back against his locker inside Amica Mutual Pavilion on Wednesday and pulls his headphones off his right ear to respond to a question, just in time to hear the word Kokomo.
Instantly, Bidunga smiles.
It’s roughly an eight-hour drive from Kokomo to Lawrence, Kan. but the support Indiana’s 2024 Mr. Basketball still receives from his Indiana home travels.
“I still get texts. I see people from Kokomo commenting on my posts and showing love,” Bidunga said ahead of Kansas’ first-round NCAA Tournament game against Arkansas at 7:10 p.m. Thursday. “I feel the city behind me.”
Bidunga feels much the same way about Kansas, which can afford to ease him into a role and let him develop.
Flory Bidunga from Kokomo to Kansas
When Bidunga enrolled at Kokomo as a sophomore from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he’d never played organized basketball.
But he had elite athleticism, the first thing that his Jayhawk teammates noticed when he arrived in Kansas.
“The athleticism jumps off the charts,” center Hunter Dickinson said. “He can put his head at the rim pretty much whenever he wants. He’s got really good instincts, especially blocking the ball. He’s a really aggressive player and he uses his athleticism to his advantage.”
Bidunga’s athleticism is what endeared Kansas coach Bill Self to him.
Now, it’s about honing that while also making Bidunga a better basketball player.
“He’s got to develop some consistent offensive ways that he can score more points,” Self said. “Right now, he’s a rim runner. Obviously, a lob threat. Scores off of putbacks and in transition. He’s got to get to where he’s a better back-to-the-basket scorer, a better face-up scorer.”
As a freshman, Bidunga is averaging 5.9 points on 71.1% shooting.
Bidunga chose Kansas because Self has a history of molding big men into NBA draft picks, including 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid.
“That will help my future, being coached by coach Self,” Bidunga said. “He has a history with some bigs.”
What is Flory Bidunga’s potential?
Bidunga averages 16.2 minutes per game as a freshman, but his potential has him forecasted as a potential 2025 NBA first-round pick.
“His time in college will probably be shorter than most,” Dickinson said.
Bidunga has shown glimpses of why he’s a pro prospect.
He had a career-high 19 points against Houston, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, on Jan. 25. His 52 blocked shots this season are the fourth most by a freshman in Kansas history.
“It’s one thing to have athleticism, but to be able to use it is what makes him special and what makes him really good,” Dickinson said.
Right now, Bidunga’s focus is solely on Kansas and how far he can help the Jayhawks advance in the NCAA Tournament.
Beyond that, though, the sky is the limit for the former Kokomo Wildkat.
“I think his ceiling is one of the highest that we’ve had at Kansas in the last several years,” Self said.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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If the motto to live by is to get 1 hour of movement a day, the Parkinson’s community in Kansas City is exceeding it.
Bob Zipse has been fighting Parkinson’s for 10 years. He said the diagnosis hit him hard.
Leawood’s Parkinson’s Exercise and Wellness Center expands services as diagnoses climb
“I was super depressed. I mean, I was in a chair. Did you want to move? Look around, just horrible. Because there’s no resources. Where do I go with the time?”
Zipse said the disease can be an isolating experience.
KSHB
“Parkinson’s, I say, is a very lonely, lonely disease. Either people don’t want to deal with you, or you’re embarrassing.”
He found the Parkinson’s Exercise and Wellness Center at his lowest point. Now, he sees people around him pushing past their limits.
“You see people out here, they’re in the mid-70s, they’re doing push-ups, sit-ups, lifting weights. I mean, it’s amazing, really,” Zipse said. “In here, we’re all the same.”
Sarissa Curry founded the center after seeing the power of healing through exercise and recognizing that diagnosis rates were increasing. An aging population and younger diagnoses are among the biggest factors driving that trend.
Kansas consistently ranks as having one of the highest Parkinson’s disease diagnoses and mortality rates in the United States, second only to Nebraska. According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, an estimated 20,000 people in the Kansas City metro alone are living with the disease.
“You see your neurologist once every six months to a year, and you see a physical therapist maybe a couple of months out of the year. Community-based programs are here every day to support this community,” Curry said.
Curry said the warning signs of rising Parkinson’s rates have been visible for years.
“They have been predicting this increase in Parkinson’s for many years. They were able to see the writing on the wall, they were able to see how the population was aging, and they knew that this was coming. We paid attention.”
She expanded the center to serve as an all-encompassing resource for people like Zipse.
KSHB
“I’d hate to wager what I would have been like. Life would have stopped for me, I think. This at least gives me hope, gives me some work towards and see some benefit of it,” Zipse said.
The PEWC will host a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, June 3, at 3:30 p.m. The community is invited to attend to learn more about the center’s services and the disease as incidence rates continue to rise each year.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Two men were arrested following a lengthy Reno County Sheriff’s Office investigation into several burglaries and thefts in the area.
Garson Stanley Boyles was arrested May 21, and Jimmy Ray Miller was arrested May 27. Both were arrested on suspicion of 11 counts of burglary, five counts of criminal damage to property and four counts of theft.
The sheriff’s office said numerous stolen items have been recovered, including a vehicle. Investigators said several items remain missing.
Anyone with information about the location of stolen property is asked to contact the Reno County Sheriff’s Office at 620-694-2735. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call Reno County Crime Stoppers at 620-694-2666 or 800-222-TIPS.
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