Kansas HC Bill Self Updates Injury Timeline for Christian Reeves

The first roadblock of the Kansas basketball offseason came when it was announced that projected starting center Christian Reeves would be undergoing labrum surgery. The former Charleston standout played his entire redshirt junior season with a shoulder ailment that needed to be corrected before the upcoming campaign.

Although head coach Bill Self previously said that Reeves likely wouldn't miss any game action because of the surgery, there has been significant concern among the Jayhawk fan base due to the uncertainty surrounding his injury. The team will be relying on him heavily for minutes in the frontcourt, particularly because of his substantial size at 7-foot-2, 255 pounds.

On Monday at the Topeka Jayhawk Club's Otto Schnellbacher Classic, Self updated the media on Reeves' injury status. He said Reeves will take off his arm sling within the next week but is still a ways away from being fully recovered.

"He may come out [the sling] here on Thursday," Self told the media. "So, he'll start doing a lot more range of motion and rehab. But the reality is, it's not going to be contact with him probably until the 1st of October or something like that. So even though he can do all the non-contact, he can do five on zero, he can do all the shooting stuff, but he won't be able to get hit in labrum area until probably, early to mid-October."

While the calendar has just flipped to June and there is plenty of time for Reeves to make a full recovery, those comments don't exactly promise he'll be ready for the start of the season. The Jayhawks will play an exhibition game in Allen Fieldhouse at some point in late October and will begin the regular season in early November as usual.

Reeves' stature already makes him more injury-prone, and this isn't the first time he's missed significant time in his collegiate career. He was forced to redshirt his second season at Duke in 2023-24 after undergoing ankle surgery that ended his year.

Mar 19, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; Clemson Tigers center Christian Reeves (14) practices at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

After an underwhelming start to his NCAA career, Reeves broke out during the second half of the season at Charleston. He averaged 11.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game while emerging as one of the top big men in the CAA.

The alternatives behind Reeves in the race for the starting center spot make the situation even more interesting. The Jayhawks brought back Congolese big man Paul Mbiya following his brief stint in the transfer portal and also signed high school standout Davion Adkins, who could carve out minutes in the frontcourt rotation.

Nobody truly knows whether Self is being completely transparent about Reeves' recovery timeline or if he will miss any time to begin the season. Regardless, it is clear that the program still doesn't have a firm timetable for when he'll make his debut in the crimson and blue.

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