Kansas forward Bryson Tiller is set to enter the transfer portal when it opens on Tuesday. The forward will depart the program after his redshirt freshman season. Tiller started 31 of 35 games for KU and played 25.9 minutes per game. He averaged 7.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He’ll have three seasons of eligibility left at his next stop.
Tiller began the season with a bang, coming off the bench and hitting four 3s against North Carolina in KU’s second game of the year. His strong start to the season led to Tiller earning a starting role after three games. He then started every game — except senior day — for the remainder of the season.
Tiller had some ups and downs during the year. Bill Self often challenged Tiller to play to his physical traits more consistently. Tiller responded to a slow start to conference play with a nine game stretch in which he averaged 11 points on 54.7% shooting with 7.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks. But, Tiller’s performance level slipped and he was benched against Houston in the Big 12 Tournament. Over the final seven games of the season, Tiller averaged 3.9 points (27% shooting), 5.9 rebounds and 0.6 blocks.
For the season, Tiller averaged 7.9 points on 50.3% shooting from 2 and 26.9% shooting from 3 with 6.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.
Coming out of high school, Tiller ranked as one of the top prospects in the 2025 high school class before he reclassified up to enroll mid-year. He was a top-20 prospect in the class and one of the top big men in the class. Tiller picked KU over offers from programs like Alabama, Auburn, North Carolina and Villanova to name a few.
Tiller was sidelined for most of the summer prior to his senior season due to an ankle injury. The injury then kept him out for the first part of his senior season before he elected to enroll at KU mid-year. He did some individual work before the decision was made for Tiller to undergo surgery in March of 2025. He then returned to the practice court last summer.
Adam Finkelstein — the 247Sports Director of Scouting — provided the following scouting report on Tiller coming out of high school.
“Tiller is long and powerful with a developing inside-out skill set. Recently measured at 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, 9-foot-3 standing reach, and 11-inch hands, his physical measurements are off the charts. His frame is just as impressive, sculpted and powerful.
While Tiller’s frame and physical tools have been imposing since he was an underclassman, he hasn’t always been quite as dominant as expected inside the paint or at the rim. He doesn’t always explode through contact or play with the type of sheer force most expect at the rim. Conversely though, he’s shown real growth in the progression of his skill-set. He’s very comfortable in the mid-post, often choosing to face-up, and consistently able to score over top of contesting defenders in that mid-range area. He has shooting touch that is starting to extend out to the arc with more consistency, is a big screener, and a tough match-up in two-man games because of the increasing versatility to roll or pop. He has a good left hand and can also put the ball on the floor comfortably for a couple of bounces, but can get turnover prone (3.4/game in the 2023 UAA) when trying to be too much of a playmaker.
One of his best assets is his ability to rebound the ball, and it’s been a consistent staple at virtually every stop. He averaged 8.1 boards in the 2023 UAA and 9.4 during the OTE regular season last year. He lacks the quick vertical pop to be a prototypical shot blocker, but his length and strong frame make him an interior deterrent who is capable of providing some secondary rim protection (1.2 blocks per game in the 2023 UAA and 1.6 in the OTE regular season). Overall, he’s a fundamentally sound and generally reliable team defender, with adequate lateral mobility for his size.”
