Wichita State basketball team down two starters for Tulane game due to COVID protocol
The Wichita State men’s basketball team will be missing its two most veteran players for Wednesday’s 7 p.m. game against Tulane at Koch Arena streaming on ESPN+.
As the the team tries for its first American Athletic Conference win, Wichita State will have to do so without starters Dexter Dennis and Morris Udeze, who are both out due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Both players, including the entire WSU team, have been vaccinated.
Neither player attended Wednesday afternoon’s shootaround, but WSU is optimistic they both could be cleared and ready to play in time for Sunday’s home game against Cincinnati, per a source with knowledge of the situation.
Udeze, a junior center, is averaging 11.2 points, second-most on the team, and a team-best 5.5 rebounds, while Dennis, a junior wing, is averaging 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds. Dennis has been mostly a starter for all four years of his WSU career, while Udeze has been WSU’s full-time starting center for two seasons now.
With only 12 scholarship players to begin with, and two currently redshirting, losing Udeze and Dennis leaves the Shockers (9-5, 0-2 AAC) with just eight available scholarship players against Tulane (6-7, 3-1 AAC). The updated AAC rules stipulate teams may decide to postpone games if it does not have at least even scholarship players and one coach for a contest.
It is unclear who will replace Dennis and Udeze in the starting lineup, although freshman Ricky Council IV (9.6 points, 5.1 rebounds) seems like a logical fill-in for Dennis. Replacing Udeze is more complicated. WSU could go small and start Monzy Jackson and Joe Pleasant together or pick one of those players and start them alongside freshman center Kenny Pohto.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 3:02 PM.
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