The No. 4 seed Kansas Jayhawks will play the NCAA Tournament without star guard Kevin McCullar Jr., coach Bill Self announced Tuesday.
McCullar, a graduate senior, has a bone bruise in his knee and missed the Big 12 conference tournament because of the injury. Self previously said he expected McCullar to return for the NCAA Tournament.
“Kevin, I haven’t seen doing anything,” Self said Sunday. “The entire game plan with him was hopefully on Monday he can be good to go, and if he’s not good enough to go (Monday) then he won’t be and then we’ll hope on Tuesday.”
McCullar has missed time in recent weeks due to injury. He leads the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game and has averaged 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 26 games for the Jayhawks this season.
When healthy, he was KU’s best player this season. He is the one guy who can slash to the basket. He’s KU’s best wing defender, best cutter and capable of making a jump shot. The drop-off between McCullar and the next options — Elmarko Jackson and Nick Timberlake — is a big one.
Against Samford, McCullar would have played a big role in helping beat the press. Kansas is probably best off playing Jackson more in that role than Timberlake because Jackson is the better ball-handler and has more speed. This also places more importance on Hunter Dickinson giving the Jayhawks offense.
Dickinson, who missed the Big 12 tournament with an injured shoulder, has struggled without McCullar. In games with McCullar, he’s shooting 57.4 percent from the field.
In games without him, he’s at 43.1 percent. He’s going to need to be efficient and productive for KU to go on any kind of run.
Kansas (22-10) will play No. 13 seed Samford (29-5) on Thursday in the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks have lost six of their last 10 games and were knocked out of the Big 12 tournament by Cincinnati in the second round.
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(Photo: Evert Nelson / The Capital-Journal / USA Today)
