Will KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self redshirt a Jayhawk or two this season?
Eighteen University of Kansas men’s basketball players — 14 on scholarship, plus four walk-ons — posed for pictures with the Jayhawks’ coaches, support staff and team managers during Media Day festivities Tuesday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.
KU had so many players from its 2021-22 roster assembled, in fact, that some reporters wondered if any will be redshirted this season — that is, practice but not play in games, in effect spending five seasons with Bill Self’s KU program instead of four.
“Yes I think so,” Self said. “We can play guys tomorrow” — a reference to Wednesday’s 7 p.m. home exhibition contest Wednesday versus Emporia State.
Redshirt players are allowed to participate in exhibition games without burning their redshirt status, as long as they don’t play in any regular-season games.
“So I anticipate us playing guys tomorrow,” Self continued. “We may have a redshirt or two or three candidates, but I haven’t had those conversations with our players yet. I told our guys we’re going to get through the exhibition game and sit down and talk to see kind of how we view you at this juncture, and to see what they want to do moving forward.”
Self noted that a fifth season of college eligibility can be valuable to both player and program.
“There’s been Tyrel Reed. Why didn’t we redshirt (him)?” Self said rhetorically of the decision to not redshirt the combo guard from Burlington, Kan., during his 2007-11 college career.
“There’s been guys like that, that you go back and say, ‘Oh, I wish I would have, and we didn’t do it,’” Self said. ”And so we’ve got guys that are good enough to be great players here.
“But they’re probably not going to get the same opportunities now as they will in a year or two. So we’ll have that discussion with the guys, but we haven’t had that yet.”
Bumps and bruises
Kyle Cuffe, a 6-foot-2 freshman combo guard from Harlem, New York, said he’s 100% healed from arthroscopic knee surgery in mid-September.
“I”m back doing everything with my teammates,” Cuffe said. “I’m looking forward to contributing in any way I can.”
Former Iowa State guard Jalen Coleman-Lands has a sore toe and is listed day-to-day.
“He’s got a sore toe which he’s been nursing and will continue to nurse probably for two or three more weeks,” Self said. “(H)e could still possibly play, but he hasn’t in the last week.”
As Self indicated, Coleman-Lands did not play in last Saturday’s secret scrimmage at Tulsa.
Martin ready for Emporia State
Newcomer Remy Martin figures to start Wednesday’s exhibition game with KU returnees Dajuan Harris, Christian Braun, Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack.
Martin, the Big 12’s preseason player of the year, played at Arizona State the past four seasons.
“I’m very excited to play a different team and get in this gym and play against somebody else and the crowd and just people,” he said. “I’m just ready to play. I’m thankful that people get to come out now. It’s been a rough couple of years, but the fact that we get to play in front of a lot more fans is a blessing. I’m honored to do that tomorrow.”
Martin said the experience promises to be one he’ll never forget.
“It’ll be my first game in this in this jersey at home in front of everybody, so I’m just excited for the opportunity,” he said. “And I’m excited to show out and give these fans a show and ultimately, obviously, win the basketball game.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Will KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self redshirt a Jayhawk or two this season?."
