During his appearance at Big 12 media day on Wednesday, Kansas head coach Bill Self was asked about the latest injury report with Friday's exhibition game at Arkansas looming. According to Self, Hunter Dickinson (foot), Rylan Griffen (hip flexor), and Shakeel Moore (foot) will likely miss the first action of the season.

“You know what — I don't think that we're going to be totally healthy yet,” said Bill Self on Wednesday afternoon. “Hunt’s (Hunter Dickinson) been out, Shakeel (Moore) will be out and Rylan (Griffen) did a hip flexor on Monday so he's probably doubtful. So that could be a different team playing.

“But the reality of it is, I really think they can all practice by Sunday, including Shakeel, so it's not all bad,” he added. “It’s probably going to be the healthiest we've been about five days from now.”

Kansas set to open up exhibition play at Arkansas on Friday night

Kansas, which will open up the season as the No. 1 ranked team in college basketball for the second straight season, is scheduled to open up the exhibition portion of its season at Arkansas on Friday night.

While tipoff between the Jayhawks and Razorbacks is set for 8:00 C.T. from Bud Walton Arena, this won’t be your typical exhibition, at least according to Self.

“I think we're going to play quarters, so that way nobody can foul out and we can reset fouls, I think,” said Self. “I think Arkansas may be beat up, too, a little bit. I anticipate us playing most of the situations out of the quarters, but maybe have it be more of a practice-type situation where coaches can actually walk around and show things on the floor, and do some things.

“So a real game I'm not anticipating, even though we will keep score, but I'm not anticipating it being something that we probably both need to look at different combinations and stuff like that,” he added. “And since I have a lot of guys out, it'll probably be good for us to see how different guys react in actual meaningful minutes.”

Self is feeling energized following another successful offseason

Following a season in which Kansas lost during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, Bill Self and his staff welcomed, with open arms no doubt, Dajuan Harris, Jr., KJ Adams, Jr., and Hunter Dickinson back for another season, while also adding the likes of Shakeel Moore, AJ Storr, Rakease Passmore, Zeke Mayo, Rylan Griffen, Noah Shelby, David Coit, and Flory Bidunga.

Self was asked to describe his offseason late on Wednesday afternoon.

“I actually think we've had a good off-season,” he said. “I think the portal and the general manager type role has actually energized me to an extent because it's a world that I did not know and I think it's been fun trying to get to know it and figure it out, which I haven't. And I'm sure a lot of coaches feel the same way, but with that being said, it probably adds more hours to everyone's day because you're doing the same things you've always done and now you have a different world than you've ever lived in.

“So it's been a busy off-season, but it's been productive and I've actually been kind of energized by it because we've had a little bit of success in it,” he added.