Already struggling in the quest for a 15th straight Big 12 title, Kansas basketball took another hit on Thursday evening when coach Bill Self announced senior guard LaGerald Vick would be taking a leave of absence.
Head coach Bill Self announces that Lagerald Vick will take a leave of absence from the team, effective immediately. ➡️ https://t.co/EYlvuYhzgy pic.twitter.com/9X0EK51sAA
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) February 8, 2019
“Lagerald has some personal matters that require his immediate attention and he will be taking a leave of absence from our team,” Self said in a Kansas athletics press release. “During this time, we will respect Lagerald’s privacy. There is no timetable for his return.”
According to an article in The Kansas City Star, Lala Vick, Vick’s mother, said that she wanted him to return home to take care of some “family matters.”
Lala Vick told The Star, “We need him here for a couple weeks. I need him. There’s a lot going on. It’ll work out.”
Vick has played a key role for Kansas this season, being the second-best scorer on the team at 14.1 points per game.
On the season, Vick has shot 45.5% from behind the arc, third best in the Big 12. His 66 made three-pointers put him at second place in the conference.
In the Jayhawks’ last game against the Kansas State Wildcats, Vick played a season-low 19 minutes, including only four total minutes in the first half after starting the game.
Vick heavily struggled against the Kansas State zone defense and at times, looked lost on the court. Vick has also been seen to struggle mentally in games, most notably in the Kentucky game when Vick shot the ball once at the beginning of the second half and then went quiet the remainder of the game.
With the absence of Vick, Kansas will now be without four players who started the season on the roster in its next game, with sophomore big Silvio De Sousa being ineligible to play until the end of the 2020 season, junior center Udoka Azubuike being out for the season with a wrist injury and sophomore guard Marcus Garrett battling a high-ankle sprain.
Garrett is doubtful, so there is hope he could play on Saturday, but signs are beginning to point to him not being able to suit up after Self announced his injury status on his weekly radio show, Hawk Talk.