The Kansas Jayhawks earned a four seed in the NCAA Tournament after a pedestrian – by their standard – 10-8 record in Big 12 play and an exit in the first round of the conference tournament at the hands of Cincinnati.
Kansas was missing Kevin McCullar Jr and Hunter Dickinson in that contest, their two leading scorers, and while Dickinson will be back for the team’s first round matchup against the No. 13 seed Samford Bulldogs – McCullar is reportedly going to miss the entire NCAA Tournament with a nagging knee injury.
McCullar missed a few regular season games prior to his absence against the Bearcats, but when he was on the floor he was an incredibly dynamic two-way player for the Jayhawks – averaging 18.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists while shooting 45.4% from the field and playing at an elite level defensively.
Beyond the loss of McCullar and his specific skill set, this loss exacerbates what has been an ongoing issue for Kansas this season – a lack of depth.
Self has never been one to play a deep bench, but this year’s Jayhawks have been overly reliant on their big four of McCullar, Dickinson, KJ Adams, and Dajuan Harris to get them through night in and night out.
Kansas tried freshman Elmarko Jackson and Towson transfer Nick Timberlake to start at the two alongside the big four, but both struggled to contribute consistently offensively before the job was eventually given to Australian freshman Johnny Furphy.
Furphy has been far and away the best of the bunch, but now he’ll face even more pressure filling in for McCullar while one of Jackson and Timberlake step into a bigger role against the Bulldogs.
Samford’s press-heavy, constant pressure approach could cause serious issues for this depleted Kansas roster – and it is entirely possible we see the Jayhawks heading home unusually early in this year’s big dance.