Kansas Is No. 2, But Its Roster Is So Depleted It's Working Out a Football Player

If you’ve casually watched the Kansas basketball team this year, you probably haven’t noticed anything awry. It is undefeated, boasts one of the country’s most efficient offenses, has a win over Kentucky, and is ranked No. 2.

It also is down to just seven scholarship players, and is in such need of fresh bodies that it is working out a tight end from the football team this week, to see if he might be able to help.

The tight end is James Sosinski, who’s 6-foot-7, 260 pounds. And the guy can seemingly play. He averaged 19 and 13 at South Mountain Community College before transferring to Kansas as a football player. He didn’t record any stats in football this year.

Coach Bill Self said if things go well, Sosinski could be added as either a practice player, or to the actual roster.

From the Lawrence Journal-World:

"Although KU is not in bad shape in terms of practice bodies, with transfers Dedric Lawson, K.J. Lawson and Charlie Moore sitting out, the Jayhawks have been down to just nine eligible players in games during the early part of the season. Sosinski could provide another body late in games that would allow Self to put more of his rotation guys next to him on the bench."

Mainly, Kansas is in these dire straights because freshman big man Billy Preston is sitting out while Kansas seeks a “clearer financial picture” on a car he crashed a while back. Self keeps saying he hopes this situation is wrapped up soon, but it’s out of his control.

Kansas only starts one big man these days — and it’s the particularly large Udoka Azubuike — so frontcourt depth is at least theoretically not as much of a concern as it would be in other years. But without Preston, any sort of foul or injury trouble with Azubuike puts the Jayhawks in quite a bind.

It is rare to see a team ranked this high and playing this well while also turning over rocks looking for long bodies. Then again, a seven-man rotation is all you really need.