Shakeel Moore injury update: Bill Self reveals status of Kansas guard for Big 12 Tournament

The Kansas Jayhawks have been without guard Shakeel Moore since the middle of February. Heading into the Big 12 Tournament, head coach Bill Self would love to have him back, though he also knows that it looks like he won’t be able to this week.

Ahead of Kansas’ first Big 12 Tournament game, Self delivered the bad news. Moore hasn’t been able to practice yet. So, even though he is improving, it’s hard to see him playing this week during the Big 12 Tournament.

“No, he won’t play,” Bill Self said. “I can’t believe — he hasn’t practiced, guys, three or four weeks, whatever it’s been. So, I can’t believe that he would.”

Shakeel Moore is an experienced fifth-year guard who previously had stops with NC State and Mississippi State. He has nine starts in 19 games this season with the Jayhawks. In those games, he’s averaging 14.5 minutes per game and is scoring 3.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. Those are all below his career single-game averages in those categories. He’s also shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point range, which are above his career percentages in those categories.

The actual injury that Shakeel Moore suffered has kept him out for five games in a row now. He initially broke his foot back in August and after re-aggravating that in February, and while it is not as bad as the initial injury, there is still some obvious concern about it, and has been causing him pain.

“But the medical staff has told me that there is — he’s improving to the point where he may be serviceable,” Self said. “But, in my thinking, serviceable to me is practicing at least two or three days before you go out there. So, I can’t see that happening this week.”

Losing out on Shakeel Moore is going to continue to put pressure on Bill Self as he manages his lineups while the team’s depth is being tested. In a week where games are played every single day, players are more likely to get tired or banged up. So, how Self manages starter Dajuan Harris Jr. will be interesting to follow. Certainly, David Coit Jr. is going to be expected to pick up more minutes off the bench for Kansas.

The Jayhawks did earn a bye in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. So, they’ll sit out on Tuesday before playing their first tournament game on Wednesday against either Utah or UCF.