The injury report hasn’t gotten any better for Kansas University’s men’s basketball team.
Senior guard Luke Axtell, who missed Saturday’s game at Iowa State because of a bulging disk in his back, had a setback upon returning to practice on Monday.
Meanwhile, an expected announcement on sophomore forward Drew Gooden’s playing status has been postponed until today after he has his sprained right wrist examined by doctors for the second time in as many days.
Axtell’s back has been bothering him for several weeks now.
“We tried to get Luke involved in practice a little bit today,” Williams said Monday night, noting Axtell shot free throws on Sunday.
“After about the first 10 minutes he probably hadn’t played five possessions he said it was hurting him so bad he had to stop. I am not very encouraged about Luke at all. It didn’t look good for Luke this afternoon.”
Gooden has missed the past three games since falling on his wrist in the KU-Texas game on Feb. 3 at Allen Fieldhouse. Initial X-rays showed no fractures in the wrist.
The cast he’d worn the past nine days came off at Sunday’s KU clinic for Special Olympics.
“The cast came off yesterday. Drew took it off himself which I was not too pleased about,” Williams said with a laugh.
Gooden’s wrist remained bandaged heavily during the Special Olympics session.
“Drew was examined today (Monday),” Williams added. “He did not practice and will be examined again tomorrow morning. We’ll have an announcement after that. I hope it’s a positive one.”
The Jayhawks will meet Colorado at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
Good news for Simien
KU signee Wayne Simien will not need shoulder surgery after all.
Simien, a 6-foot-8 forward from Leavenworth High, was cleared to begin practicing on his own on Monday.
He will dress for Saturday’s Senior Night game against Manhattan and participate in warm-ups but not play in the game.
Simien will begin practicing with the Pioneers’ team next week in preparation for the Class 6A sub-state. Projections indicate Leavenworth will likely travel to Lawrence High for sub-state play on March 1 and 3.
Pairings will be announced Saturday.
Simien has been out the past couple weeks because of a slight tear in his right shoulder sustained in a game against SM East.
Nonconference plans
Here’s what’s been revealed about KU’s 2001-02 nonconference schedule thus far:
KU will travel to the Maui Invitational Nov. 19-21 and also travel to UCLA, Arizona and Princeton (no dates announced yet).
At home, KU will play Wake Forest, Tulsa and likely St. Joseph’s of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
UCLA and Arizona will play at Allen Fieldhouse during the 2002-03 season.
The teams in Maui will be KU, Duke, Seton Hall, UCLA, South Carolina, Ball State, Chaminade and Houston.
Chenowith’s comment
Williams was unhappy to read Eric Chenowith’s comment that Iowa State’s Shane Power and Jake Sullivan “really don’t have any business playing Div. I basketball.”
“I do think both those kids are fantastic basketball players. It’s unfortunate Eric made that statement and yet he went on to try to explain, almost to try to make it a positive, saying here’s two kids who may not look like (much physically), but here’s what they accomplished,” Williams said Monday.
A Journal-World reporter, who heard and printed Chenowith’s entire quote in Sunday’s editions, confirmed Chenowith’s intent actually was to praise the duo.
“I told them in front of the entire team I didn’t like what Kenny (Gregory) said about Baylor and I didn’t like what Eric said. But again if you look at the entire statement, he was trying to say something positive about those kids,” Williams said of Chenowith.
“The fact of the matter is they (Cyclones) can take out of that comment whatever they want and we have to play those guys again.
“Let’s not really get carried away,” Williams told a caller on his weekly radio show. “Let me get on Eric and everybody else give him a little slack because he was not saying it as bad as it came out.”
