Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor drive the Kansas basketball machine. Without the duo, the Jayhawks would struggle to generate points and probably give up way more offensive rebounds.

But as Kansas continues to evolve into a Final Four-caliber team, we can’t forget about the development of junior center Jeff Withey.

Here’s a guy who played six minutes per game last year and a total of four minutes in the Jayhawks’ nine games last March. He was, at best, a big body that could pick up a few fouls, alter a few shots and slam a few dunks.

He’s so much more to the Jayhawks now, thanks to an offseason of weight training and teaching from big man coach Danny Manning.

Withey averages a block every 7.37 minutes on the floor. His 14.75 block percentage — a measure of the percentage of shots blocked by the player while he’s in the game — ranks fifth in the nation, just above Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis’ 14.28 percent.

Davis, a former guard who went on a growth spurt and has broomsticks for arms, might be the first pick in this year’s NBA Draft. In Withey, Kansas has a player who blocks a higher percentage of shots.

Withey didn’t have his best game in Kansas’ 69-66 win in Austin on Saturday, finishing just 2-of-7 from the field and blocking two shots in thirty minutes of action.

His presence in the paint still altered Texas’ offensive attack — the Longhorns hit just 30.9 percent of their two-point attempts. The threat of a Withey blocked shot can almost be as effective as an actual blocked shot.

Withey also came up clutch in the final minute, corralling a Robinson “assist” and finishing a layup while getting fouled by the Longhorns’ Myck Kabongo. Withey hit the free throw, giving the Jayhawks a two-point lead with 37 seconds remaining.

Ken Pomeroy, a basketball analyst who runs the site KenPom.com, created a similarity matrix that allows the website to compare any current player to one from the recent past, using each player’s stats and role on the team to make the correlation.

The most similar player to the 2011-2012 Robinson? Texas’ Damion James in 2008-2009. Taylor? Texas A&M’s Acie Law in 2006-2007.

Withey is certainly a unique player — a seven-footer who blocks a high number of shots, grabs lots of offensive rebounds and shoots more than 80 percent from the foul line. You can’t walk into any gym in America and find a Jeff Withey.

His most similar connection is relatively weak, ranked 837 on a 1000 scale. Pomeroy urges his site’s visitors to use the similarity scores carefully, especially ones less than 850.

That being said, the most similar player to Withey this year is Cole Aldrich from his final season at Kansas, 2009-2010.

Aldrich fouled a little less and rebounded more, but also shot a worse percentage from the free-throw line. Aldrich was a bigger part of the offense and played more minutes, too, so it’s clear that Withey doesn’t impact the game the way Aldrich did.

The comparison is still fascinating.

Robinson and Taylor must play well for Kansas to make waves in March. But the play of Withey — Cole Aldrich Lite — will certainly impact the Jayhawks’ chance at a Big 12 title and a run in the Big Dance.

— Edited by Christine Curtin