Report: Kansas State basketball has eight players available against Texas

Kansas State will play Tuesday’s Big 12 basketball game against Texas with just eight players, according to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman. With just seven scholarship players available and one walk-on, the Wildcats still meet the six healthy player requirement set by the conference.

According to Goodman, the seven active scholarship players are Mike McGuirl, Selton Miguel, Carlton Linguard, Mark Smith, Luke Kasubke, Nijel Pack and Ismael Massoud. The one walk-on is senior Drew Honas.

In addition to player absences, head coach Bruce Weber and assistant coach Chris Lowery are out, leaving Shane Southwell with head coaching responsibilities.

Texas will also play without senior guard Andrew Jones due to COVID-19 protocols, according to the Austin American-Statesman’s Brian Davis. Jones was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018 and returned to Texas basketball after going through treatment at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The game is still on under Big 12 guidelines and will be played at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+. The Longhorns enter as eight-point favorites on the road.

Big 12 updates COVID-19 policy

An interesting rule has been reversed by two conferences. According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, the Big 12 and Big West conference are reversing their forfeit policies due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“News: Two leagues reversed their forfeit policies on Tuesday,” tweeted Norlander. “Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby tells CBS Sports (as Ross Dellenger first reported) the Big 12 will no longer have forfeits. Big West commissioner Dan Butterly also told CBS Sports his league’s ADs reversed the rule.”

Moreover, Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated first reported the rule change was taking place. He elaborated on what it means for the conference.

“The Big 12 is finalizing plans to restore its policy deeming COVID-impacted league games ‘no-contests,’ sources tell SINow,” tweeted Dellenger on Tuesday. “Would eliminate forfeits. If a team doesn’t have available 6 scholarship players & 1 coach, game would be no-contest or the teams will work to reschedule.”

The Big 12 and Big West are the first to do it, but other conferences could soon follow suit. With the amount of cases surging throughout the country, it’s paramount to get through this stretch and not be penalized for outside factors. If a game can be rescheduled, there’s no sense in not giving the fans what they want.

Over recent weeks, some huge showdowns were postponed due to rising cases. For example, the famed game between Louisville and Kentucky isn’t being played for the first time since the 1980’s due to the rising cases. Elsewhere, programs like Ohio State, Syracuse and USC have been forced to pause their operations.