Kansas may be heading into its season opener Monday against Fordham at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse, but sophomore guard Kohl Rosario remains on the sideline for now.
Coach Bill Self said Wednesday that Rosario has not returned to practice after taking an elbow to the mouth at practice Friday. The injury left him with a concussion and a cut that needed 14 stitches. Rosario, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound Miami native, also sat out Sunday’s 90-84 exhibition loss to Duke.
“With Kohl, I’m hopeful (he can play Monday), but he still has symptoms,” Self said. “With that being said, he won’t get a chance to get out there until he’s passed all those tests, and hopefully by the end of this week maybe he can be out there. It’s what we’re hopeful for.”
Self was less certain when it came to center Trey Kaufman-Renn, who turned his ankle at practice last week and has also been dealing with eligibility questions. He was recently cleared to play through a preliminary injunction in Indiana, though the NCAA has not yet appealed or updated the case on the court docket website of late.
“Regarding Kaufman-Renn, I’m going to wait to say anything for sure publicly, just because there are still some unknowns that I need to visit with to make sure that the way I see it is right,” Self said, ostensibly referring to his status via the court system.
“I think that it will be fine, but I’m not going to say positively on his availability on Monday. But I’m planning on playing him,” Self added.
Self described the Jayhawks’ overall condition as “pretty good,” noting that Kansas had its full group available against Duke except for Rosario and Kaufman-Renn. He called the issues more nagging than serious and said he expects most of the preseason bumps and bruises won’t linger long for his team.
On the wider eligibility fight playing out across college sports, Self also addressed Tennessee coach Rick Barnes’ comments from Monday. Barnes had argued for an audit of NCAA legal spending and said the organization had created the problem by fighting so many cases.
Self didn’t get into Barnes’ money proposal, but he did say the uneven outcomes bother him.
“I hadn’t studied it to the point where the money should go,” Self said. “I studied it to the point I find it very, very hard to consider how some people could be eligible and some people not eligible with the same type of lawsuit, but the eligibility is determined strictly where they filed the case.
“I don’t see how the way somebody was represented in a judge view in Colorado has anything to do with Ohio and why there could be more slack cut in another state or another county in which it’s filed and that kind of stuff. I do believe universal is the way that it should be, and if anybody’s eligible, I think they should all be eligible if they’re fighting for the same reasons.”
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Bill Selfs Latest Trey Kaufman-Renn Update Raises A KU Opener Question
Trey Kaufman-Renns path to Kansas has already been unusual, and now the focus shifts from eligibility to whether hell be ready when the games start to count. After obtaining a preliminary injunction that gave him an additional year, hes been working through conditioning while also dealing with an ankle injury, which has kept him out of exhibition action and left a little uncertainty hanging over the season opener.
Bill Selfs latest update was more encouraging than alarming, with the Kansas coach saying Kaufman-Renns availability is still expected even if it is not fully settled yet. Self also noted that Kohl Rosario is working through a concussion and described the rest of the roster as generally in good shape, which puts the Jayhawks in a decent place overall, even if one of the more important early-season questions remains unresolved for now. [Read more 🡒]
Lance Leipold Is Facing A Kansas Question That Wont Go Away
Lance Leipolds tenure at Kansas has reached the point where every uneven stretch invites the same conversation, even as the program still points to the progress that reshaped expectations not long ago. The Jayhawks have taken a clear step back since 2023, with losing records and familiar problems showing up in Big 12 play, and the renewed frustration around the program has only sharpened the focus on how quickly a good story can turn into a hard question.
Individual performances have still offered flashes, but they have not been enough to steady a team whose defensive issues keep surfacing at the wrong time. Around campus, the football concerns sit alongside a separate reminder that exhibition losses in basketball do not count in the official record, yet the broader mood around Kansas athletics has made the football side feel especially uneasy, with coaching strategy and long-term direction now part of the everyday discussion. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Faces A Big 12 Problem Kansas Could Exploit Again
Kansas heads into another Big 12 matchup with a little more confidence after finally getting its first conference win of the season against Baylor. Isaiah Marshall and Dylan Edwards have helped give the Jayhawks a more balanced look on offense, and the rushing attack has become a real part of what makes this group difficult to defend. Against TCU, that ground game figures to be at the center of the plan again.
The Horned Frogs are expected to key on slowing Kansas on the ground, which puts even more importance on how the Jayhawks handle their running opportunities and open things up elsewhere. Nik McMillan adds another layer to the offense as a receiver to watch, and the matchup now looks like a test of whether Kansas can keep forcing defenses to choose between respecting the run and dealing with the rest of its playmakers. [Read more 🡒]