Kansas senior forward KJ Adams, who was injured in the NCAA Tournament first-round loss to Arkansas, had surgery on his torn Achilles on Wednesday, Jayhawks coach Bill Self announced.
Adams had grabbed a defensive rebound, landed on his left leg and tried to dribble to start a fast break but fell and lost possession of the ball with 3:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. Seventh-seeded Kansas, which led 67-64 at the time, went on to lose to 10th-seeded Arkansas, 79-72 in Providence, R.I.
“KJ had successful surgery this morning to repair his torn Achilles,” Self said in a social media post on Wednesday. “He is in good spirits. Although this is a big setback, he’ll attack his rehab with his patented toughness and be back on the court as strong as ever.”
Self told The Kansas City Star on Sunday that Adams likely will need 9 to 10 months to recover.
“It is terrible. It’s an awful way to end a really good (college) career,” Self said in the interview. “The thing that is most frustrating and the saddest thing is it probably delays a year in what he’ll do with his future (in pro basketball).
“I anticipate him sticking around (at KU) and we’ll find something for him to do until he gets healthy.”
Adams, a 6-foot-7, 235-pound forward from Austin, Texas, averaged 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 31 games (29 starts) this season.
He played four seasons at Kansas and averaged 8.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 23.4 minutes in 138 games (98 starts). He was All-Big 12 honorable mention in 2023 and 2024, the conference’s most improved player in 2023 and on the all-freshman team in 2022.
–Field Level Media
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