LINCOLN, NEB. ? The Internet has been buzzing with rumors Wayne Simien needs surgery to repair his right shoulder.
False, Simien, Kansas University’s 6-foot-9, 255-pound sophomore forward, said Saturday after watching the Jayhawks pound Nebraska, 81-51, at Devaney Center.
“No,” Simien said, asked if surgery is on the horizon. “Not now. I’m still doing whatever I can to get back to help the team. We’ll talk to the doctors. If the best thing for me is to have surgery, I might have to get it done.
“We’ll find out more Monday. It’s a waiting game, but as of now my heart is still trying to get back in the game.”
Simien said the shoulder he dislocated early in the UMKC game Jan. 4 has been “progressing kind of slow.”
“It has me not feeling too good about the way things have been going,” Simien said. “We’re going to have doctors look at it, and a doctor in New York who is supposed to be the best in the country will take a look at it and we’ll see what he has to say, too. We’ll put our heads together and see what happens.”
Simien has scrimmaged in contact drills at practice the past week.
“I do maybe one or two plays (per practice),” Simien said. “We’re taking it serious. Coach is holding me back a little bit to make sure I don’t hurt it doing too much.”
The contact drills haven’t boosted Simien’s confidence.
“Easy stuff still bothers me,” he said. “What is holding me back from getting in there is doing simple stuff, reaching for balls, doing a nice little easy dunk. That still bothers me.
“I want to make sure I come back and be the same power player that I was earlier this season. I don’t want to be out there playing scared or struggling.”
