Kansas Jayhawks Lose Center Udoka Azubuike To Ankle Injury

The Kansas Jayhawks are currently 6-0 SU/3-3 ATS in the early stages of the college basketball season but they’ll have to deal with a significant injury issue for the indefinite future. Center Udoka Azubuike suffered an ankle injury during the first half of the Jayhawks’ 72-47 win over Wofford on Tuesday night. Head coach Bill Self indicated that Azubuike is expected to be out ‘indefinitely’ but gave the caveat that he didn’t know enough about the injury to give an accurate time frame. Azubuike was averaging 15 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.

The 7’1”, 270 pound junior from Delta, Nigeria was attempting to block a shot by Wofford’s Nathan Hoover and landed off balance. He went down immediately grasping his right ankle in pain. He was helped off the court and was unable to put any weight on the injured ankle as he left for the locker room. Coach Self initially reported at halftime that Azubuike had suffered a ‘high ankle sprain’ but amended that diagnosis in his postgame media availability. He alternately indicated that Azubuike had ‘rolled his ankle’ badly but then confirmed that the injury was a ‘severe ankle sprain’. The Jayhawks’ head coach tried to give an optimistic assessment about Azubuike’s return to action potentially within a couple of weeks: “He’ll be out. It’s not a day-to-day thing. X-rays came back negative but he’ll be out. Hopefully we’ll get him back healthy before Christmas time.”

Azubuike had entered his name in the 2018 NBA draft but after ‘going back and forth’ on his decision decided to return to Kansas for his junior year. The move may have had as much to do with his potential draft position as any desire to win a NCAA title with the Jayhawks—observers suggested that Azubuike would have been a late first round or second round pick. In theory, another year at the collegiate level should boost him to at least the mid-first round if not higher. He’s got good size already but needs to pack on some muscle and ‘toughen up’ a bit to become a factor in the NBA.

The loss of a big presence in the middle would be a significant issue for many teams but thanks to Kansas’ insane depth they just switched up their gameplan by going with a four guard lineup. The move served to accentuate the Jayhawks’ superior skill and athleticism and since Wofford had prepared for the bigger lineup with Azubuike they had no tactical answer for the unfamiliar look they encountered in the second half. At one point in the second half, Kansas asserted their dominance with a 27-0 run.

The Big 12 season starts on January 2 and the Jayhawks are hopeful that Azubuike will be back in the lineup by then. In the interim, Kansas has a manageable non-conference schedule with games against New Mexico State, South Dakota and Eastern Michigan along with potentially tough challenges against #20 Arizona State and #21 Villanova. The Jayhawks are ranked #2 in the nation and odds to win the 2019 NCAA championship suggest that they’ve got very high expectations—Kansas is currently the third choice in the betting market at +1000 behind Gonzaga (+600) and Duke (+250).