Pistons forward Markieff Morris, a former star at Kansas, has kept an eye on his collegiate program since he walked away from dormitories and cafeteria meals in 2011.



The nine-year NBA vet has observed from a distance as many from Lawrence have joined him inside basketball’s most prestigious league. Morris said Kansas coach Bill Self has a “controlled, very college-type system,” which sometimes makes it hard to identify who can succeed in the NBA. But when it came to Svi Mykhailiuk, who competed for the Jayhawks from 2014-18, Morris just saw an everyday college player.



“He was typical,” Morris said of Mykhailiuk. “He was a shooter. I know he was with Self, so he was going to work hard, but that’s really what it was.”



Times, and opinions, have changed.



“Me, personally, I stay on his ass,” Morris said of his new teammate. “I’m on him all day. I’m trying to make him better. If...