Kansas Jayhawks hoops forward KJ Adams ‘fine, but sore’ after playing 26 minutes vs. UCF
It appears KJ Adams’ right shoulder held up well during his 26-minute stint against UCF on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
KU coach Bill Self on Thursday provided somewhat encouraging news regarding the senior forward’s status, as well as the status senior point guard Dajuan Harris, who missed Kansas’ 91-87 victory over the Knights because of an ankle sprain.
“He said he was sore,” Self said of Adams in particular. “I think he’s fine, but sore.”
Self indicated that both would practice on a limited basis in preparation for Saturday’s 3 p.m. game against Baylor in Waco, Texas.
Self said the 6-foot-7 Adams, who missed three games ahead of the UCF game, was instrumental in No. 11-ranked KU (15-5, 6-3) defeating the Knights.
“Certainly we don’t win the (UCF) game unless KJ plays,” Self said.
With Adams on the bench, the Jayhawks defeated Kansas State and TCU and lost to Houston.
“We wouldn’t have won that game with KJ and Juan (both out),” Self said.
Adams scored 12 points with five rebounds and two assists against UCF. He also forced a turnover on the biggest play of the game. Guarded by Adams, Keyshawn Hall, who finished with 34 points, fumbled the ball with UCF down one point with 4.6 seconds left.
Adams was fouled after retrieving the ball and hit two free throws to give KU an 89-86 lead. UCF made one free throw and Zeke Mayo two in the final moments.
“KJ made the free throws,” Self noted, “and he missed three or four of those little short floaters, too — I think because he was rusty. But I thought KJ did great.”
Of Harris, Self said: “We missed him a lot. I think that was pretty evident.”
Self was asked several questions about Adams’ contributions to the team at Thursday’s pre-Baylor news conference.
“I don’t think we’ve had many guys that do as many little things that go unnoticed by and maybe (are) unrespected by people as what KJ does,” Self said.
For the year, Adams is averaging 8.4 points and 4.6 rebounds with 39 assists to 15 turnovers in 17 games.
“A sprint down the court to buy time so the guard can build out late to a 3-point shooter, because KJ somehow was able to bluff or do something to buy time because the guard couldn’t leave the hole yet,” Self explained of Adams’ value. “There’s all kinds of things that that he does that are pretty unnoticeable from a stat sheet standpoint, but go a long ways to helping your team win. When he does rebound the ball we’re a different basketball team.”
Self compared Adams’ importance to that of former KU guard Brady Morningstar, who was at KU for five seasons (2007-11)
“Brady would probably be a guy that you look at and say, ‘Gosh he plays, starts and averages seven points a game and all he does is the ball moves, the offense always flows better,’” Self said.
“What people didn’t realize about Brady he was our best defender every night. He had the best feet, and nobody would equate that to him. But there’s others like that, too. Landen Lucas was a great glue guy for us. You can judge a big guy on how valuable he is when he guards the other team’s 5-man. Do you have to trap the post? Never had to once with ‘Lando,’ which creates rotation rebounding and little things like that.”
Speaking of feet ... Self said Thursday that guard Shakeel Moore’s surgically repaired foot was sore during Tuesday’s UCF game and might have contributed to his off night. Moore had two assists, one rebound and one turnover in 12 minutes.
“I’d like to see him play with a lot more energy,” Self said of Moore. “Now, granted, his foot was sore, so let’s cut him a little slack on that, for sure. But I didn’t think he was engaged defensively or offensively. But I don’t think he felt well, either, but just didn’t say anything.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks hoops forward KJ Adams ‘fine, but sore’ after playing 26 minutes vs. UCF."
