Enterprising Nigerian kid, Ochai Agbaji has been pin pointed as one of the lads now expected to step in for his injured compatriot, Udoka Azubuike at the American Collegiate top notchers.
Sports247.ng gathered that the youthful freshman guard, Agbaji, who is yet to get into Jayhwaks’ mainframe, will get the chance to step up as one of the options available in Azuike’s absence.
Jayhawks’ coach, Bill Self is already weighing his options, and gbaji appears among the lot he would be forced to turn attention on.
Self admitted The Jayhawks just have to move on without their most important post player and one of the biggest size advantages in US college basketball.
That has now created room for Agbaji, who had planned to red-shirt, but is now exploring the idea of playing instead.
Self said Agbaji and a variety of players would get an opportunity to step up and that the Jayhawks likely would play even more four-guard lineups in the weeks ahead.
Included alongside Agbaji on that list are freshman forward David McCormack, junior forward Mitch Lightfoot, and sophomore guard Marcus Garrett, who started the five games Azubuike has missed.
But the coach may not be as convincing as he sounds, as the only other true center on the Kansas roster is raw freshman, McCormack, which means Self could be forced to use smaller line-ups.
He prefers to run with two big men but has leaned on four-guard lineups the past couple of seasons because of the configuration of his roster.
The starting line-up that Self used Saturday featured Dedric Lawson in the post, with Marcus Garrett joining starters Lagerald Vick, Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson in a four-guard back-court.
The pre-season No. 1 already has been playing without sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa, whose eligibility remains in question.
However, though his name surfaced in the FBI probe into dealings by German sports kit manufacturing firm, adidas, Self said there has been no change in De Sousa’s status.
The Jayhawks (12-2, 1-1) lost 77-60 to Iowa State on Saturday in their first game without their bruising center from Nigeria, and Self admits a lot has to be done to put the team back on track.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff we’ve got to hammer out, and hopefully we can do it relatively soon.
“We’ve been living on the razor’s edge a lot. Granted, we don’t have a lot of where we can go to guarantee us having a great possession.
“We really don’t have good ball-handlers right now. There’s no question, eventually you’re going to play like you practice.
“So, certainly, we’ve got to be better in practice, I think, and that will probably translate to better performances in the games.”
