KU Basketball: Josh Jackson Suspended for Big 12 Tournament Opener
By trevb
KU basketball freshman Josh Jackson has been suspended from the Big 12 Tournament opener this Thursday due to a traffic violation. Will this affect the Jayhawks at all?
Wednesday morning saw an announcement hit that KU basketball head coach Bill Self had suspended Josh Jackson for the Jayhawks’ first game of the Big 12 Tournament.
According to ESPN, Josh Jackson has been suspended one game due to a traffic violation. This suspension does not involve the vandalism incident against a female KU student reported earlier in the season.
This traffic violation occurred on February 2 when Jackson backed into a parked car and left the scene. Bill Self explained his reasoning for Jackson’s current discipline.
"“Although Josh has acknowledged his responsibility and has handled it himself, he didn’t tell me about it until Monday,” Self said. “He should have left his contact information at the time and notified us immediately.”"
What This Means For Thursday
For Kansas’ opening game of the Big 12 tournament they face either ninth-seeded Oklahoma or eighth-seeded TCU on Thursday at 1:30 central time. Jackson is an important presence of offense and his absence should definitely be felt by his teammates.
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Whether that dictates a tougher contest against the Sooners or the Horned Frogs is yet to be seen. Jackson contributes major numbers for Kansas, so far he is averaging 16.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and holds a 51.1 field goal percentage, according to ESPN stats.
While Josh Jackson is a major part of this KU basketball team, there are replacements for him. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Lagerald Vick should see increased minutes with Jackson’s absence.
Kansas has had some closely contested games against both of the teams they could square off against on Friday. On Senior Night, the Jayhawks had to come back from a 12 point deficit from Oklahoma, and TCU has presented their challenges as well for KU, including a tough Big 12 opener.
One thing is for sure, Jayhawk fans have seen plenty of times when the best players either underperform majorly or are injured during the postseason. Hopefully Jackson will stay out of trouble so he can avoid suspension during the postseason.
With this more than likely Jackson’s only season as a member of the Kansas Jayhawks, it will sting not having him there for the first game of the Big 12 Tournament. At the same time though, if he has to miss a “big game”, this is the one for him to miss.
Kansas has nothing to gain and nothing to lose during the tournament, so not having Josh Jackson on the court right now is better than him being absent once the big dance begins next week.