Kansas head coach Bill Self announced prior to the Jayhawks’ win against Utah on Saturday that freshman guard Devonte’ Graham will miss at least the next four weeks after suffering a severely sprained right big toe in a 75-70 victory over Georgetown last Wednesday. The injury is not likely to require surgery, but the team’s doctors told Self it is possible that Graham won’t return this season. Although the team isn’t planning for it, Kansas would likely seek a medical redshirt if Graham is unable to return. According to Self, “The doctors feel he can come back but also say he may not come back. We’ll have to make a decision before the first half of the season is probably over so we can obviously utilize a medical redshirt if we need to, but we’re not thinking like that.”
The loss only magnifies Kansas’ lack of depth at the point guard position after the preseason transfer of sophomore Conner Frankamp, as Graham and Frank Mason III are the only two point guards on scholarship. Prior to his injury, the freshman was averaging 14.9 minutes per game, mostly as the backup point guard, but Self has also used Graham and Mason together to increase defensive pressure on ball-handlers. “Just watching the game, we put so much more pressure on the defense when those guys were in there together, as opposed to when just one of them was in the game,” Self said in his news conference last Monday. Indeed, Kansas will miss Graham defensively. His 4.1 percent steal percentage would rank in the top 100 in the country if he had enough minutes to qualify. That number is important because a high steal percentage has correlated well with the Jayhawks’ best defensive efficiency numbers throughout Self’s tenure.
Offensively, Kansas loses a player who has had a few nice games but isn’t going to be setting any scoring records. Graham scored 14 points in the opening game against UC Santa Barbara and his free throw shooting was integral in their 18-point comeback against Florida, but he’s only averaging 5.9 points per game and has yet to top three assists in a single contest. His loss will be felt most as Kansas looks for a competent ball-handler to spell Mason, who has played 80.8 percent of the Jayhawks’ available minutes at the position this season. The most likely scenario is that Mason will continue to play heavy minutes as Self has already committed to resting him on Kansas’ off days. Wayne Selden will assume the role of backup point guard for a few minutes per game in order to get Mason a breather, and Self even hinted at the possibility of playing walk-on guard Evan Manning in emergency situations. He also noted that initiating the offense using junior forward Jamari Traylor is an option now without Graham available.
Although Graham’s injury comes during a stretch of non-conference games that Kansas should easily win without him, it’s still an important time of the season for the Jayhawks to build team chemistry and rotations. Self noted after their win over Utah that Kansas is going to have to “redefine” who it is because the team is not getting the easy two-point buckets that have come to characterize his offense. The Jayhawks are only shooting 43.1 percent on two-point field goals, by far the worst number for one of his Kansas teams. Thus, while Graham’s injury is unlikely to have a short-term effect on the team’s record, it may hurt Kansas down the line if he’s unable to return or if it takes him longer to integrate into the redefined offense.