Three injured Kansas State players nearing healthy return to basketball court
A clean bill of health is something that has eluded the Kansas State basketball team this season.
The Wildcats have played nine games over the past month, but they haven’t once taken the court with a full assortment of 13 scholarship players.
When will that change?
Good question. Four different contributors have missed games because of various ailments, and three are likely to remain on the sideline when K-State takes on Omaha at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum. But the Wildcats’ roster is getting healthier with each passing day.
“They have all made progress,” K-State basketball coach Bruce Weber said during a video conference on Monday.
Montavious Murphy appears closest to a return. The sophomore forward has missed the past six games with a knee injury, but Weber says he participated in practice over the weekend and could take the floor for some spot minutes against Omaha, though he did say that was a “long shot.”
There’s a better chance he returns to the lineup when K-State hosts TCU on Saturday.
“I just don’t want to push it,” Weber said. “He got involved with some half-court action the past couple days. He ran up the court five on zero. If we did (play him against Omaha), it would be like Dean Wade against Kentucky, two minutes here and there. Just be very, very smart about it and then hope you build to possibly get him back once we get back into the (Big 12) at the end of the week.”
He isn’t the only sophomore forward K-State has been without the past few weeks. Kaosi Ezeagu, a transfer from UTEP, has missed the past five after undergoing minor surgery on his knee.
Weber has said fans can expect Ezeagu to return shortly after Christmas, but it sounds like he is still a week or so away from blocking any shots for the Wildcats.
“Kaosi is starting to run,” Weber said. “He hasn’t really jumped yet. We are trying to put a little more force and explosion into those things. This will be a big week for him to slowly but surely make some progress.”
It will be interesting to see how Weber adjusts K-State’s rotation whenever Murphy and Ezeagu return to the active roster. Both players were in the starting lineup when the season began. But the Wildcats have looked better without them.
Without two key post players, K-State switched to a four-guard lineup that has featured freshman forward Davion Bradford in the middle. And the Wildcats have won three of their past four games.
Reserve forward Antonio Gordon has also had some nice moments, including 23 points and six rebounds against Baylor.
Perhaps that is part of the reason why Weber has been patient with both Ezeagu and Murphy as they recover from injuries.
But he has been the most cautious with Luke Kasubke. The freshman guard from St. Louis suffered a toe injury during summer practices and is only now beginning to take part in no-contact practice sessions. It seems as though he could be ready to make his college debut at some point in January.
Kasubke would provide K-State with an extra shooting presence on the perimeter, as he was a gifted three-point shooter in high school.
K-State fans haven’t seen Ezeagu, Kasubke or Murphy do anything more than cheer from the bench in recent games, but there’s hope that will soon change.