Lawrence
Kansas coach Bill Self has not ruled out senior Lagerald Vick returning to the Jayhawk basketball team.
The 6-foot-5 shooting guard has been in his hometown of Memphis on an indefinite leave of absence since Feb. 7. Vick has missed three games — all victories — leading some to speculate he will not rejoin the squad.
The reason for the absence involves family issues, according to his mother.
“Whenever he gets his stuff handled we’ll welcome him back,” Self told Sam Mellinger of The Star on Tuesday.
Vick has averaged 14.1 points and 4.0 rebounds a game. He’s made a team-leading 66 three-pointers in 145 tries for a 45.5 percent clip.
On Feb. 7, Self announced: “Lagerald has some personal matters that require his immediate attention and he will be taking a leave of absence from our team. During this time, we will respect Lagerald’s privacy. There is no timetable for his return.”
Vick’s mom, La La Vick, told The Star on Feb. 7 that Vick was returning to Memphis to help out with family issues.
Garrett practices
Kansas sophomore guard Marcus Garrett, who missed the last five games because of a high left ankle sprain, practiced on Monday and Tuesday, Self said on his Tuesday Hawk talk radio show
Garrett, 6-5, 195 pounds from Dallas, was injured at practice the day before KU’s 79-63 victory over Texas Tech on Feb. 2 at Allen Fieldhouse. KU is 4-1 in games played without Garrett. He has averaged 7.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20 games.
“Yesterday he was very limited, a half court, half speed type deal,” Self said on Hawk Talk. “Today he was probably closer to three-quarter speed and actually played up and down. He didn’t trust it (ankle) at all yet. He hadn’t done anything in three weeks.
“I thought he looked pretty good today,” Self added. “Hopefully by Saturday (7 p.m. game at Texas Tech) he’ll at least have some rhythm to his game. He won’t be 100 percent by any means. He may not be (100 percent) the rest of the season. You don’t know how long these things will last. The West Virginia player, Beetle (Bolden), is still out (with sprain). Marcus has made a nice recovery considering what he had,” Self noted of the severe sprain.
Self said Garrett “was actually in the majority of the reps today (Tuesday) and half (of reps) yesterday. Hopefully by Thursday, Friday he’ll be closer to 85, 90 percent.”
Self said he envisions limited minutes for Garrett in the near future.
“I don’t know if Marcus will be well enough to play a big role,” Self said. “I hope he is. As of now I’d think pretty limited. As far as moving forward, it’s a situation where he’ll do nothing but help us. The fact we may not have to play Devon (Dotson) 45, 40 or 38 minutes …maybe with Marcus in the game we can play small five to seven minutes a game. Maybe even Dedric (Lawson) can come out a little bit, let one guy anchor it to give him a little rest. It gives us the best chance to win when you have your team’s best defender (Garrett) play key possessions against the other team’s best offensive player. Marcus does that for us.”
Williams on 2 Chainz
North Carolina coach Roy Williams was introduced to rapper 2 Chainz at last year’s North Carolina-Duke game in Durham, N.C. The former KU coach spoke of the meeting Tuesday on the David Glenn radio show:
“I’ve said hello to famous people watching games at Duke. 2 Chainz was there last year. I had no idea who he was. He reached his hand down, shook my hand and said, ‘2 Chainz.’ I missed a great opportunity to respond, ‘3 Ringz,’’’ former KU coach Williams cracked. He’s won three national titles at UNC.
2 Chainz, who hails from Atlanta, performed at the 2018 Late Night in the Phog.
Hurt update
Matthew Hurt, a 6-9, 200-pound forward from John Marshall High in Rochester, Minn., who made an official recruiting visit to KU for the Texas Tech game on Feb. 2, met with coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke last week, Rivals.com reports.
“There is really nothing new with Matthew Hurt,” writes Corey Evans of Rivals.com. “Yes, Coach K was in to see the five-star forward last week, but his recruitment remains a priority for all of those involved as he has not been willing to show his hand as to which way that he might be leaning.
“He has already taken four official visits this winter to Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and UNC. The Blue Devils have a lot to sell to with their upcoming hole in the frontcourt that will be left by Zion Williamson, which would likely intrigue any high school prospect, but Kansas remains my personal pick for now with the Minnesota native. He has not made any other visit plans and has not scheduled a commitment date as he could be waiting until after the college season to see how each of his finalists’ rosters shake out,” Evans adds.
KU’s women’s team has offered a scholarship to Hurt’s sister, Katie Hurt, a freshman at John Marshall High, according to the Rochester Post Bulletin.
