Kansas coach Bill Self says three Jayhawks players will not travel with the team to Indianapolis for the NCAA Tournament because of COVID-19.
Kansas is a three seed in the West Region with a first-round game against Eastern Washington. The Jayhawks had to withdraw from the Big 12 Tournament on Friday because of a positive COVID-19 test.
They were already missing David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna, who both tested positive before the conference tournament. Self said McCormack and Enaruna could join the team later in the week in Indianapolis.
“We think we’re, knock on wood, in as good of shape as we can be in. We had a situation the day following our Oklahoma game so Friday morning, but everybody else has tested negative daily and sometimes even more than once a day,” Self said Sunday. “So, we’re going to Indy tomorrow with a healthy group, it’s just a smaller group.”
First-round games will be played Friday and Saturday. Self hopes to have a full roster at some point.
“The one thing I’ve found out through this, as much as anybody, is to expect the unexpected,” Self said. “I’m not privy to comment on specifics but I’ll stick to what I’ve said all along that we anticipate those guys joining us this week.”
Should Kansas advance to a Saturday game, the Jayhawks could play either Wichita State, Drake or USC.
“I’ve never gone through this, I don’t have a plan in place. I think a lot of it depends on feel, a lot will depend on what our medical staff says that they can possibly do. I know there’s some people that have gone through this and they’ve really labored through it for a period of time, especially those with symptoms and severe symptoms. And there are some that have gone through this that basically didn’t have severe symptoms that actually come back at and be closer to full strength than you anticipated,” Self said. “So it’s a crap-shoot I do not know and it’s an unknown right now.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.