Kansas Star Kevin McCullar Jr. to Miss NCAA Tournament With Knee Injury

The Jayhawks received clarity on their star guard’s status for March Madness.

The Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team will have to operate without star guard Kevin McCullar Jr. in the upcoming NCAA tournament.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self told reporters Tuesday that McCullars will miss the entire tournament due to a knee injury.

“He’s out,” Self said, via The Kansas City Star. “We’re shutting him down for the tournament. If we are fortunate enough to win two games, we’d have done it without him. You know, he hasn’t practiced in six weeks, basically. He hasn’t done more damage to his knee. 

“He tried to [play] and said he just couldn’t go.”

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McCullar was Kansas’ leading scorer this season, averaging 18.3 points per game on 45.5% shooting from the field and 33.3% shooting from three-point range.

McCullar hasn’t played since the Jayhawks’ 76–46 loss to Houston in the regular-season finale. He didn’t score a point in 15 minutes that night before exiting the game with knee pain.

Kansas co-star Hunter Dickinson also missed the Big 12 tournament last week due to a shoulder injury, but it appears he will try to suit up for the NCAA tournament. Self said Dickinson has looked “great” at practice.

Kansas, the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region, is set to battle 13th-seeded Samford in the first round on Thursday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.