KU Jayhawks’ Jalen Coleman-Lands returns to practice after missing time with toe injury
Kansas senior shooting guard Jalen Coleman-Lands returned to practice on Thursday after missing 10 days with a toe injury, KU basketball coach Bill Self said on Thursday night’s Hawk Talk radio show.
“This was really his first day back where he went full speed. We need him to help us because he’s our best shooter,” Self said of the 6-foot-4, 25-year-old transfer from Iowa State. Coleman-Lands did not play in Saturday’s secret scrimmage at Tulsa or Wednesday’s 86-60 exhibition victory over Emporia State at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Ochai (Agbaji) and C.B. (Christian Braun) can really shoot the ball, but if you are just going to line it up and say, ‘Pick your best shooter,’ I think the majority of our guys would take Jalen. He can really help us doing that, but he’s another one that he’s a thinker and we’ve got to get him where he’s reacting. It’ll take some time,” Self added, “especially if you think about it we’ve been practicing for a month. You miss 10 days and you’re really not used to what we’re doing. That’s a pretty significant amount of time. So he’ll get there. He’s just not quite there yet. And he’s not quite healthy.”
Self said Coleman-Lands likely would be available for Tuesday’s season opener against Michigan State (6 p.m., Madison Square Garden, New York).
Redshirt talks to begin Friday
KU, which has 14 scholarship players on the 2021-22 roster, will likely have one or more redshirts this season, Self said recently. Meetings with players to discuss the possibility of practicing but not playing in games this season will start Friday, Self revealed on Hawk Talk.
“It’s not something you have to do. We’ll talk about ‘This is how we see it. How do you see it? What do you think?’’’ Self said. He also will talk to parents of any possible redshirts.
“Nobody will be forced to do anything. The thing about it is, I look back and Tyrel Reed is probably my biggest example off the top of my head. I still say, ‘Why didn’t we redshirt him?’ He played on that (2008) national championship team as a freshman. He got three minutes a game or four minutes a game in games we won handily. In tight games he didn’t play much. Back then I said, “He’s going to be really good. I don’t know if he’ll be terrific.’ He turned out terrific.
“We did redshirt Brady (Morningstar) and he ends up starting two and a half years. I don’t want to look back with these guys and say, ‘I wish we’d done this. I wish we’d done that.’ We’ll play it out and see what they want to do. I do think there will be some disappointed guys, not from a standpoint of (limited playing time) every game. Guys may end up beating guys out;. I don’t think our team today will look anything like our team in January or February. We’ve got to give those young guys (four freshmen) a chance to at least play into that rotation.”
Self noted on his Hawk Talk show that freshman combo guard Kyle Cuffe reclassified from the recruiting class of 2022 to 2021 and should be a high school senior right now. That would likely make him one of the redshirt candidates.
“What we thought and his family thought, which I think is accurate, is being with us a year, not expecting him to come in and kill it right off the bat would have him better prepared for the next year,” Self said.
“I don’t know how it will play out. I’m glad we got him. He’s a little bit of time behind. His high school team didn’t play many games (two) last year because of COVID.”
Remy Martin ‘one of a kind’
Senior point guard Remy Martin scored 15 points off the bench in KU’s exhibition win over Emporia State.
“I think he’s a one-of-a-kind dude. Somebody told me earlier, they described him as an ‘interesting cat,’ which may be pretty accurate,” Self said. of the Arizona State transfer “Obviously he has his own personality like a cat would too. He’s not like anybody we’ve had (at point). He’s different than Frank (Mason). Frank was a pit bull, grinder, tough as nails. Remy is a showman. Remy likes the bright lights. Remy is an actor in a lot of ways, but it’s not fake. It’s who he is, (there’s) always personality. I do not want Remy to lose any of that but to maybe be a little sounder defensively. That may be our challenge with him. He’ll get there. It just may take a little bit of time.”
McCormack is healthy
KU senior forward David McCormack scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 15 minutes against Emporia State.
He’s said he is 100% recovered from offseason foot surgery.
“I think he probably wasn’t 100% until October,” Self said of the 6-10 native of Norfolk, Virginia. “I think he’s doing better. I think it took him a while to trust it. Surgery had knocked him out three months. With big guys, there’s always a concern when they have foot problems. He’s responded well. The doctors are very pleased where he is. I certainly hope it is in his rear-view mirror. It’s taken him a bit of time. We approached it in a cautious manner.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 8:29 PM with the headline "KU Jayhawks’ Jalen Coleman-Lands returns to practice after missing time with toe injury."
