Bill Self names KU basketball practice standout — with an injury update — post-Christmas
Hunter Dickinson, who stood at least 2 feet taller than hundreds of campers at Kansas’ holiday men’s basketball clinic, had the first-through-sixth graders clapping their hands and stomping their feet after opening the proceedings by hitting a halfcourt shot Friday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.
The 7-foot-2 native of Alexandria, Virginia — with a flair for the dramatic of course — sank nothing but net on his first try, then proceeded to sprint through the northwest tunnel in a gleeful celebration.
He returned quickly and, after taking a bow, for the next two hours joined his KU hoops teammates for camper drills and scrimmaging.
“The tallest, goofiest person you’ll ever meet,” KU coach Bill Self said with a smile in introducing Dickinson to the participants.
The Jayhawks players and coaches, who scattered to their hometowns or towns of friends after Sunday’s 87-53, victory over Brown, returned to Lawrence from a three-day Christmas vacation Thursday night for practice.
They practiced again Friday morning in preparation for their Big 12 opener against West Virginia, set for 1 p.m., Tuesday, at Allen Fieldhouse. It will be shown live on ESPN+.
“We actually had a good practice today,” Self said, speaking to The Star at the start of Friday’s camp session. “A.J. (Storr, junior guard) has had a great two days since he’s been back. He seems to be excited, anxious to get going again.”
Self noted that “everybody made it back on time. There were only a few flight delays, pretty good travel for Christmas.”
He and his wife Cindy “went to Dallas and Oklahoma City (to see family on Christmas break)“ and “brought our grandkids back with us from Oklahoma City.”
The injury report heading into Tuesday’s conference opener currently consists of two players: Sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson, who is out for the season following summertime surgery to repair a torn left patellar tendon; as well as junior forward Zach Clemence, who suffered a groin pull at practice before Sunday’s game against Brown.
Clemence, who did work the camp on Friday and is able to do some things on the court, is out indefinitely.
“Zach’s injury unfortunately isn’t great. (It’s a) pulled groin. He’s experiencing some difficulty,” Self said. “I can’t anticipate him being back at practice for a period of time. I don’t know if that’s a week or a month or whatever.”
Junior guard Rylan Griffen, who was “hit in the eye,” by Brown guard Jeremiah Jenkins when the two ran into each other early in the second half, missed the final 17:24 of KU’s 34-point win.
“He’s fine, 100%,” Self said.
Griffen worked Friday’s camp and had no swelling above either eye.
Self said the players seemed to enjoy not only getting three days off for Christmas, but also returning to town on Thursday.
“I don’t know if I feel refreshed. I feel pretty good coming back knowing that we’ve still got a lot of room for improvement,” Self said of the 9-2 Jayhawks. “I think we gained on it in recent weeks but we have a long way to go. I think our team realizes they have a long way to go. It’s been fun to be back with ‘em. They have great attitudes.”
One of the best exhibited so far upon the team’s return apparently comes from Wisconsin transfer Storr.
“He had his best practice of the year so far today,” Self, who celebrated his 62nd birthday Friday, told the campers. “He will have a great second half for us.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2024 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Bill Self names KU basketball practice standout — with an injury update — post-Christmas."
