Kansas Basketball: Udoka Azubuike injury doesn’t doom Jayhawks yet
The loss of Udoka Azubuike is hardly a novel development for Kansas Basketball, nor is it one they can’t recover from this season.
Another year, another significant loss for the Kansas Jayhawks. This time, it’s Udoka Azubuike.
The big man suffered a season-ending injury during practice this week, as revealed by an MRI on Sunday; Azubuike has torn ligaments in his right hand.
Kansas opened the season as national title favorites, but that reputation has taken a hit in recent weeks, first with losses to Arizona State and Iowa State – the latter at home, no less – and then the loss of Azubuike.
Azubuike’s loss will sting for some time. He’s one of the more gifted big men in college basketball, with the ability to impose his will in the paint.
Prior to this injury, Azubuike averaged 13.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. He achieved those numbers in just over eight games, as he dealt with a sprained ankle earlier this season, sidelining him for several games.
That’s the rub with Azubuike. It’s unfair to call any player “injury prone,” as different and unique circumstances generally lead to each injury an individual suffers, no matter how frequently they occur.
But Azubuike has had little luck staying on the court during his collegiate career.
He tore a tendon in his other hand during his freshman year, ending that season early. Azubuike didn’t make it to the end of last season, either.
If nothing else, Kansas has legitimate experience navigating choppy waters without their center (especially considering Silvio De Sousa‘s sustained absence).
In fact, this could ultimately be to Kansas’ advantage, as hard as it is to imagine now.
While Azubuike is a player of many talents, his more traditional post game doesn’t fit with the modern college basketball landscape – case in point, he’s never hoisted a 3-pointer.
Bill Self will be forced to resort to a smaller lineup, but that can work out well – just ask the Golden State Warriors.
In all seriousness, a lineup featuring Dedric Lawson inside and Marcus Garrett, Lagerald Vick, Devon Dotson, and Quentin Grimes hounding the perimeter sounds intimidating on paper. It didn’t quite work against Iowa State, but Self will have time to tinker with it this week, which should put Kansas on a path to success.
Key injured players set to return. dark. Next
But it’s too soon to count them out of either the Big 12 or national title races. Look, the loss of Udoka Azubuike isn’t a small matter for the Jayhawks.