OMAHA, Neb. _ Udoka Azubuike has been wearing his bulky black left knee brace nearly 24 hours a day since spraining the medial collateral ligament on March 6.
"Pretty much the only time I take it off is when I take a shower," Azubuike, Kansas' 7-foot sophomore center from Delta, Nigeria, said Thursday at CenturyLink Center, site of Friday's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game against Clemson.
"The doctor recommended me to sleep in the brace to protect me. It helps my MCL to stay together."
He's made steady progress in rehab, and, after playing three minutes in a first-round victory over Penn and 22 in a second-round victory over Seton Hall last week, will start against Clemson, KU coach Bill Self said Thursday.
"I'm glad I'm back with my teammates. I'm glad I'm back to help my team," Azubuike said when asked about returning to the starting lineup after five games.
Self has said that barring any setbacks, the only thing that could limit Azubuike on Friday is potential foul trouble.
"Doke is doing great," Self said. "He may be a little sore (after playing 22 minutes Saturday), but not much, not as much as what they (doctors) had anticipated. He played 22 minutes Saturday after practicing Friday. That was all he'd done. He took Sunday and Monday off and has been full speed since. He was full speed Tuesday and Wednesday. If he's full speed today, which we anticipate," Self added before the start of Thursday's practice, "I can't imagine him not starting and being 100 percent tomorrow."
Azubuike said he has done all he can to get ready.
"I fought through the pain and the rehab," he said. "A lot of people, even my doctor didn't know I'd come back. They (medical staff) are really shocked at the (short) period of time. I was positive about my rehab. I had the right intention. It paid off.
"I always had a positive mindset," he added. "I knew when I had the injury it'd be tough, but I knew I'd be back, just a matter of time. In the back of my mind I said I was going to keep fighting and rehabbing and be better than I was."
Azubuike said he'll be ready for possible double-teams from Clemson.
"A lot of teams ... they've been trying to do that," Azubuike said. "If they try to double-team me, I need to do a better job of passing the ball to my guys and let them go make plays for themselves."
Azubuike said he's confident Mitch Lightfoot and Silvio De Sousa will be capable bigs off the bench. Lightfoot had 11 boards and nine points against Penn and four points and three boards against Seton Hall. De Sousa had four boards and four points combined in the two NCAA games after exploding for 30 points and 29 boards in three Big 12 tournament games.
"Right now we are counting on everybody as a team," Azubuike said. "They know what they've got to do. I trust my bigs. I trust Silvio. I trust Mitch. When we are in the game it's all about making the team win and advance."
