Kansas basketball wins, faces uphill battle without Lagerald Vick

The recent news that Kansas basketball senior guard Lagerald Vick is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team is just one of many bumps in the road the Jayhawks have experienced this season.

Let’s be clear about one thing. Lagerald Vick leaving the Kansas basketball team for personal reasons should be more of a concern for a true fan than whether or not his absence will cost the the Jayhawks any wins.

Good Lagerald Vick was a boost for this team in November that made them look like a Final Four lock. Bad Lagerald Vick, or at least inconsistent Lagerald Vick, is what we’ve seen the past two six weeks.

And that’s just on the court.

Whatever is going on in Vick’s personal life is more important than missing too many three-pointers. It’s important enough that his mother, LaLa, issued a brief statement on his situation, per Gary Bedore of The KC Star.

"“We need him [home] for a couple weeks,” LaLa Vick said. “I need him. There’s a lot going on. It’ll work out.”"

It’s no secret Lagerald has been in and out of head coach Bill Self’s doghouse the past four years, but it’s also clear that Self always wants what’s best for his players. He respected Vick’s privacy while also excusing his up and down play the past month, as reported by Bedore.

"“Not being totally negative at all, he has some things going on that (aren’t) public things, so I think that he hasn’t been his best because of those things,” Self said on Hawk Talk, not revealing anything that possibly is wrong with Vick or his family members.“I don’t think it’s anything you go into, some of the things he’s had going on. But it’d be nice to have our full complement (of players). That’s not the case.”"

While Vick is back in Memphis attending to family matters, there won’t be a Kansas basketball fan not wishing him well. But the college basketball season still goes on, and Bill Self still has to coach a team that is in danger of snapping the school’s consecutive Big 12 Conference regular season title streak. A streak that sits at 14 years, a Division I record.

Following an 84-72 home win over lowly Oklahoma State on Saturday, and as this story is being typed, the Jayhawks trail Kansas State by one game in the standings. The Wildcats, who have won seven straight Big 12 games and their two losses coming with their best player Dean Wade on the bench with an injury, should be considered the favorites to win it.

At 7-4 in conference play KU trails Iowa State (7-3), is tied with Baylor (6-3) and holds a half-game lead over Texas Tech (6-4). But it’s not just the fact the Jayhawks have to play catch up with just seven games remaining on the schedule that’s concerning. It’s that they will have to do it short-handed.

If Self somehow wills this young, inexperienced, flawed team to a 15th-straight Big 12 title, they don’t need to even take a vote for Coach of the Year. Self should receive the award the day after the season ends, and it should be customized with a grinning bust of the 56-year-old.

In addition to Vick’s woes the team has dealt with losing seven-footer Udoka Azubuike to a season-ending wrist injury, having fellow big man Silvio De Sousa ruled ineligible by the billion-dollar “nonprofit” that governs the nation’s Division I basketball teams, an injury to the emerging Marcus Garrett and slow-to-develop McDonald’s All-Americans Quentin Grimes and David McCormack.

Fellow freshman All-American Devon Dotson has been the team’s most consistent first-year player, and since his redshirt was lifted last month, Ochai Agbaji has been arguably the team’s best player. But is that enough to lead team to the Final Four?

More from KC Kingdom

Junior power forward Dedric Lawson has been everything we thought he would after transferring from Memphis, leading the Big 12 in both points (19.4) and rebounds (10.8) per game. But he is not the aggressive, tone-setter that Azubuike is on both sides of the ball.

Since Self can’t trust McCormack for long stretches or reserve Mitch Lightfoot to play big minutes under the rim, Lawson has been forced to play the five. The Jayhawks are much more productive with him playing the four and spreading out the defense behind the three-point line.

The Jayhawks started four freshman against Oklahoma State, and it showed. The game was tied at half and Lawson, Agbaji, and Dotson combined for 32 of the team’s 36 points. They settled down in the second half, but holding off a then 9-13 team that has just nine players on the roster is not a feat to be celebrated.

A report late Friday night from KUSports.com editor Matt Tait said some of the Jayhawk players expect Vick to be back before the NCAA Tournament. That would certainly be a boost, but it won’t hide all the issues with this team.

If Agbaji matures early into the NBA-prospect many believe he is, Vick returns and is good Lagerald, and McCormack can put together consistent minutes, it might be enough for the ‘Hawks to sneak into the second weekend of the tournament.

The conference streak? Well, that’s another story.

Next. Ranking Top One and Done Players for Kansas Basketball. dark

KU can help themselves by holding serve at home against the Wildcats, but that game is a few weeks away with road contests at TCU and Texas Tech looming.

The top spot is still up in the air, but like a deep Lagerald Vick 3-pointer, the Jayhawks have no better than a 45.5 percent chance to make it happen.

Home/Kansas Basketball