West Virginia Facing Injury Concerns Ahead of Big 12 Opener at Kansas

The Mountaineers may not be at full strength on Tuesday night in Lawrence.

West Virginia University forward Tucker DeVries / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

The rigorous 20-game Big 12 schedule begins Tuesday night for West Virginia with arguably the toughest opponent and the toughest venue in the 16-team league as the Mountaineers make the trek to Lawrence to take on the Kansas Jayhawks.

Despite the long break in between games, WVU still may be a bit shorthanded when the ball is thrown up in the air tomorrow night. Head coach Darian DeVries didn't divulge all the details of the injury report and, instead, provided a very vague response when asked about the status of Amani Hansberry (ankle), Jayden Stone (undisclosed), and his son, Tucker (shoulder).

“Pretty much all of those guys are the same as they were when we left. We’ve got today’s practice and tomorrow’s shoot-around to kind of determine where everybody’s at.”

Hansberry left the floor within the first minute of the team's final game before the Christmas break against Mercyhurst and did not return. When asked about the severity of it in his postgame press conference, DeVries stated, "I don't think it's anything serious. He should be good."

Assuming DeVries is being 100% transparent in regard to the injuries, albeit not saying much, it could mean WVU will be without both DeVries and Hansberry, which would be a major blow to their chances of pulling off an upset in the Phog. Eduardo Andre has played well in his role as Hansberry's backup at the center spot, but replacing DeVries' offensive production is a much bigger ask for a team that's been inconsistent on that end of the floor.

It's unlikely that an injury update is provided hours ahead of tip-off, so we probably won't know the availability of DeVries and Hansberry until the starting lineups are set or perhaps until the start of the game.

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