Bill Self with the latest on freshman Johnny Furphy
Before the season started, Bill Self had high expectations for Johnny Furphy, the 6-foot-9, 202-pound guard from Melbourne, Australia. Furphy, who committed to Kansas late in the process and didn’t arrive on campus until August, had hoped to compete for “starter-like minutes” as a freshman, and that’s still very much possible.
However, Furphy has been out of action with shin splints for some time. While meeting with the media on Tuesday, Self provided the latest on KU’s talented freshman.
“Yes, he’s doing a little bit, but it’s very little.,” said Kansas head coach Bill Self on Tuesday afternoon. “He’s going to practice some today and then we’ll have some restrictions on him, but hopefully he can play, or get in the game at least, tomorrow and play a little bit.
“My goal is, by next week, hopefully, be in a position that he can play some meaningful minutes if need be,” he added. “He’s been back out there for four or five days doing a little bit, but hopefully he doesn’t have any setbacks. According to Johnny, this is something that’s been bothering him for over a year, so I hope like heck that he can get this behind him.
Self, when asked on Tuesday afternoon, talked about what he expects from Furphy moving forward. However, the key to his season will be his ability to remain healthy and pain-free moving forward.
“I’d like for him to be healthy and if he’s healthy, I think he can certainly be a guy that can play 15-20 minutes a game,” he added. “I would anticipate that as long as he’s healthy.”
Kevin McCullar, Jr., appears to be ready to go on Wednesday night
Kevin McCullar, Jr., the 6-foot-7, 212 guard from San Antonio, Texas suffered whiplash late in the game against Illinois on Sunday and didn’t return for the last minute or so of the contest. Self, when asked on Tuesday, provided the latest update on McCullar, Jr.
“From what I’ve been told, Kevin’s neck is stiff, but he got whiplash,” said Self. “I’ve been around Kevin a lot and he’s been sore a lot of days before games and somehow, he miraculously recovered to participate in the games.
“I’m hopeful that will be the case,” he added.
Self said Kansas must decide how it wants to play this season
When Hunter Dickinson, the 7-foot-2, 260-pound center from Alexandria, Va., decided to transfer to Kansas, it appeared that Kansas was set in terms of the style of play it would run with for the upcoming season.
However, on Tuesday afternoon, Self said that Kansas still has a decision to make.
“We have to decide how do we want to play,” said Self. “I don’t think that we’ve totally decided how we want to play, based on how we think people will attack us and what our strengths are. There’s been times, many years, that we’ll change how we guard stuff, a third through the season or two-thirds through the season. We’re not even to the season and we know that we’ve eliminated, some ways, that we think that we would try to guard.
“We’ve got to tighten some stuff up,” he added. “A lot of it isn’t Hunter. A lot of it is our guards. Our guards can make big guys look really bad if, in fact, they don’t do what they can do to eliminate Hunter’s responsibilities.
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