The Kansas Jayhawks will enter the 2024 NCAA Tournament without one of their top players.
Kansas head coach Bill Self announced Tuesday night that star guard Kevin McCullar Jr. won’t play in the upcoming Big Dance after sitting out the second half of the regular season finale and all of the Big 12 Tournament with a knee injury.
The 6-foot-7 McCullar, in his second season after transferring from Texas Tech, averaged 18.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. However, he has been in and out of the lineup down the stretch due to a lingering knee problem.
“Kevin’s not gonna play. Kevin says his knee pain has not subsided any and it’s too bad for him to be able to contribute. So Kevin will not play,” Self told reporters tonight, mentioning that McCullar had been unable to practice for some time and would be out for the entire tournament, no matter how far KU advances.
If there is a sliver of good news for the Jayhawks, who have lost four of their last five games, big man Hunter Dickinson will be able to play when KU, the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region, takes on 13th-seeded Samford Thursday.
Dickinson dislocated his shoulder in the final regular season game against Houston and did not play in the Jayhawks’ conference tournament loss to Cincinnati.
“Hunt looks great. He’s practiced basically every day since Saturday, non-contact and then the last two days full contact,” Self said.
Kansas and Samford will tip off at 9:55 p.m. ET Thursday night on TBS.