Dickinson, McCullar Missing Big 12 Tournament Could Have A Silver-Lining For Jayhawks
In a strange twist of events, the Kansas Jayhawks lost Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr, two All-Big 12 performers, to injury in the final game of the regular season in a blowout loss to Houston. McCullar had been dealing with a bone bruise on his knee for the better part of the past two months, missing games, then coming back, then missing more games. With that type of injury, rest, along with everyday treatment, is the only thing that can help McCullar recover.
Hunter Dickinson has been the rock of this team and carried the Jayhawks for the most part when McCullar missed games throughout conference play. However, early in the second half against Houston on Saturday, Dickinson suffered a dislocated shoulder. The good news, according to Kansas head coach Bill Self, is there wasn’t any ligament damage, and it looks like the best-case scenario for that type of injury. Self says both McCullar and Dickinson will not play in the Big 12 tournament but will play in the NCAA tournament. That is big news on both fronts.
At first glance, it feels like Dickinson and McCullar missing the Big 12 tournament is horrible news. If you’re of the mindset that the Jayhawks were going to compete for the Big 12 tournament title and win the whole thing to try and get some momentum going into the NCAA tournament, then sure, Kansas missing McCullar and Dickinson is a huge loss and terrible news. However, if you take a step back and look at the season as a whole, it may actually be beneficial for Dickinson and McCullar to get some extra rest.
Kansas tips off their Big 12 tournament run on Wednesday night at 8:30 pm at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. If they were to win on Wednesday, they would play Baylor at 8:30 on Thursday night. Kansas split the season series with Baylor, winning their home game and losing the road game. Baylor is a Top 15 team and finished third in the Big 12 standings. They would likely be favored to beat the Jayhawks with or without McCullar and Dickinson.
If the Jayhawks were to advance to the semi-final on Friday night, they’d face Kansas State, Texas, or the most likely team to be there, Iowa State, who finished second in the Big 12. Kansas would potentially have a chance to get some revenge for their loss to the Cyclones from earlier in the season. Kansas did not get to host the Cyclones this year with the new conference slate rotation schedule. The Jayhawks would certainly be underdogs against Iowa State as well.
All that to say, it would be a long shot for Kansas to win the Big 12 tournament even if they were 100% healthy with Dickinson and McCullar at full strength. The case has even been made that winning the Big 12 tournament could potentially be tougher (as far as facing ranked teams go) than making a run-through and winning the NCAA tournament in 2024. Do the Jayhawks want to try and get through the Big 12 gauntlet with their banged-up All-American nominees or keep them rested for a national tournament run? It seems the latter is more logical.
Getting Dickinson and McCullar back to as close to 100% healthy as possible leading into the NCAA tournament is the best thing for the Jayhawks this season. This will also give some of the younger guys a chance to step up for however long they go in the Big 12 tournament. We’ll see what Johnny Furphy, Elmarko Jackson, and Jamari McDowell can do with an increased workload. Furphy has been an excellent addition to the starting lineup since moving into a full-time role there, but now his leadership skills may be put to the test. This could help the team in the long term as they move into the national tournament next week.
In a season when Kansas has not been as deep or as crisp as a typical Self-coached team, expectations are not as high heading into March as they would be in most seasons. They’ll likely be a three- or four-seed in the NCAA tournament when the brackets are announced this Sunday. Ultimately, running through four games in four days in Kansas City and winning the conference tournament is not the ultimate goal for the Jayhawks. Making a deep run in the national tournament is more meaningful for this program, and having Dickinson and McCullar at full strength will give this team their best chance to make that go from a dream to a reality.
