Kansas University senior guard-forward Luke Axtell will miss the entire Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic because of a left ankle sprain.
Axtell, a 6-foot-10, 220-pounder from Austin, Texas, sprained the ankle at practice on Tuesday and didn’t make the trip to New York Tuesday night.
X-rays were negative on Axtell, who remained in Lawrence for treatment. He will be re-evaluated when the squad returns at the end of the week.
It’s the latest setback for Axtell, who left the team late last season because of an undisclosed medical condition. He was off to a fast start, averaging 16 points a game during KU’s two exhibition games.
KU will open tourney play Thursday against UCLA. Tipoff is 5:30 p.m., Lawrence time, at Madison Square Garden. The other two teams in the two-day tourney are St. John’s and Kentucky.
Axtell’s roommate, KU junior guard John Crider, also did not make the trip to New York.
Sources close to Crider’s family say the 6-foot-4 Crider has asked Roy Williams for a transfer. It’s been speculated Washburn may be his final destination.
Kansas coach Roy Williams still hasn’t released any information on Crider’s status with the team.
It’s believed he will finish the semester at KU and perhaps even practice with the team. He has a quad injury that may keep him out of practice, however.
UCLA point guard Earl Watson may not be 100 percent for the Bruins’ opener versus KU.
Watson, a 6-foot-1 senior out of KC Washington High School, jammed his small finger on his right, shooting hand at practice this week.
He strained a tendon.
“He’ll probably be in pain a couple weeks,” UCLA coach Steve Lavin said Tuesday during a Coaches Versus Cancer Teleconference. “He’s practiced. It doesn’t seem to bother him too much.”
UCLA has a three-point bomber deluxe in Jason Kapono, a 6-foot-8 sophomore from Lakewood, Calif.
“Any time you return an all conference player and leading scorer like Jason, it gives a coaching staff reason for optimism,” Lavin said. “Jason has tremendous basketball savvy. He broke our record for three-point field goals last year. He’s quicker and more explosive.
“He’s a gifted, special player, a throwback to another era, like a (John Havlicek). He’s an old school kind of player. He has a real feel for the history of basketball. It makes him enjoyable to coach.
“He’d be a great coach, but he’s too intelligent to get in that profession.”
Thursday’s game is expected to be called tightly by the officials. There’s an emphasis this year to enforce the current rules and not allow pushing and shoving and overly physical play.
“I’m hoping throughout the course of the season the game will be called closer to the rules we already have in the books,” Williams said. “Rough play in college basketball has gotten out of hand. A young man’s time in the weight room is more important than time working on ball handling skills.
“Our game has in some ways gotten even more physical than the professional game. I think coaches and players are all very intelligent. If a game is called tighter and more fouls are called, you will not see a continual parade to the line.Coaches and players will change the way they play the game.