The newfound frontcourt depth that Kansas cultivated in the offseason has been put to the test in recent weeks by key injuries.
The Jayhawks were already down star freshman Jaliya Davis, who has been limited to three games by what head coach Brandon Schneider has described as “lower leg pain,” and has been seen wearing a walking boot on her left leg at recent games. Then, on Sunday at Missouri State, Regan Williams exited with an injury of her own after teammate S’Mya Nichols landed awkwardly on Williams’ left leg following a drive to the basket.
With the Jayhawks back home, though, and heading into their last two nonconference matchups at Allen Fieldhouse, Schneider provided encouraging updates for KU with regard to both young forwards.
“Regan will miss a little bit of time,” he said. “It’s not anything that is surgical or season-ending, so (we) got really good news in that regard. But she’ll miss a little bit of time. And then Jaliya, our primary goal has been to get her back for conference play, but I think it’ll be sooner than that.”
He said KU is having a light week of practice due to finals but that Davis should be able to participate in some portions of practice. KU plays Denver on Sunday and then hosts Haskell Indian Nations University the following Wednesday before it begins league play at Iowa State.
“I think it’s been difficult on her,” Schneider said of Davis, “but I think knowing that there’s a timetable, that ‘I’m going to be back, should I be willing to take some time off,’ I think’s beneficial for her. But it’s hard. But I’ve also seen what a great teammate she is, in practices and especially in games, just how engaged and supportive she is of her teammates.”
Davis was limited by foul trouble in her season debut against Kansas City on Nov. 5, but she then displayed her high potential when she scored 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting against Northwestern State. The Overland Park native and former McDonald’s All-American missed the following game against Lamar, came back with a solid performance in KU’s rivalry win over Missouri and hasn’t played since.
Schneider said that Davis’ absence makes it difficult to assess exactly where KU is at this point in the season, with its 8-2 record through 10 games and some solid wins (like Minnesota) but also a pair of rough losses at its Thanksgiving multi-team event in Fort Myers, Florida.
“I think we have the right pieces,” Schneider said. “Just would really like to be able to get them all out there together.”
Williams, a sophomore forward from Kansas City, Missouri, was serving as a high-level sixth player off the bench when Davis was playing, but has stepped into the starting lineup in her absence. She has experienced some wide-ranging results but averages 10.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and her 22-point showing at Northwestern on Dec. 3 helped KU rally from its early deficit.
KU’s other forwards are steady senior starter Lilly Meister (8.4 points, 7.4 rebounds) and reserves Nadira Eltayeb (1.1 points, 2.4 boards in nine games) and Tatyonna Brown (3.0 points, 1.4 rebounds in seven games). The Jayhawks have been playing two at a time but may have to adapt.
“We’re going to have to start playing some four-guard lineups, if not for even just emergent reasons, which we saw the other night in Springfield,” Schneider said. “We hadn’t practiced many of those situations. Elle (Evans) has never fouled out either in her life, so that was a situation that we hadn’t really planned for.”
The Jayhawks will host Denver on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Pioneers are 4-6, with two of their victories against non-Division I opponents.
