LAWRENCE, Kan. _ All but two of the Kansas Jayhawks' men's basketball players, who had hoped to be practicing Monday in Allen Fieldhouse in advance of a first-round NCAA Tournament game Friday in Omaha, Nebraska, instead were back in their respective hometowns tackling coronavirus concerns with their own family members.
"Silvio and Udoka are both on campus and at this point in time plan to stay on campus," KU coach Bill Self said Monday, referring to Luanda, Angola native Silvio De Sousa and Delta, Nigeria native Udoka Azubuike.
"Everybody else is with their families including Tristan. He got home to the Netherlands last night," Self added of freshman Tristan Enaruna of Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands.
"They will stay home until an unknown time. We do not know when as far as a return date. We are anticipating it being sometime in early April. That is still unknown at this point in time."
Self spoke to reporters via teleconference Monday. The session was from his west Lawrence house instead of his fieldhouse office. That's because KU's basketball facilities, including the coaches' offices, are being "sanitized" in a week-long cleanup that will last until next Monday, Self said.
Of his 15-man roster, including three walk-ons, Self said: "You've got a couple players, three players that will not be back. Two of them (Azubuike, Isaiah Moss) are seniors. One of them (sophomore Devon Dotson) I'm sure will declare (for NBA Draft), even though it hasn't happened yet. He hasn't made that decision. The reality is in today's time that will probably happen."
Self normally would be able to go recruiting at season's end. But that's not happening now as the NCAA has suspended recruiting for all Division I sports through April 15.
There will be no unofficial prospect visits to campus through at least April 15 with a recruiting dead period (no coaches going on the road to evaluate players) lasting until at least April 15.
KU actually has a full 2020-21 roster of 14 scholarship players. It will drop to the NCAA limit of 13 players if Dotson, as expected, turns pro. KU, which has already signed Bryce Thompson, Latrell Jossell, Gethro Muscadin and Tyon Grant-Foster, and will have a redshirt freshman on the team in Dajuan Harris, would only be able to sign additional players if any other non-seniors also turn pro or transfer.
"I think there's a lot of juggling that's going to take place," Self said of recruiting of all teams nationally. The NCAA is pondering letting seniors on current teams receive an additional year of eligibility.
"Not only do you have that potentially going on out there, but also have the transfer portal. You would have kids that would leave that has nothing to do with what's going on with the premature conclusion of our season or the virus that's going around, just a change of scenery.
"I think recruiting is more of an inexact science now than it ever has been. I feel pretty strongly about this ... if nobody can go recruit and everybody is limited to recruiting basically the same way, telecommunication or whatnot, I still think you probably get about the same quality of player that we always would have gotten."
Self by the way is in favor of allowing senior athletes in winter sports an extra year.
"At this point in time I'd say yes. I just don't know with other bylaws in place it'd be allowed," Self said, noting "that would certainly be something that would be favorable. I think it would certainly also give the NCAA a chance from an appearance standpoint to be very pro-student athlete."
