KU’s Bryce Thompson has surgery on right index finger. He’ll be out several weeks.
Kansas freshman guard Bryce Thompson is expected to be out of action between four and seven weeks after undergoing surgery on his right index finger on Thursday morning, KU coach Bill Self said Thursday night on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show.
Thompson, a 6-foot-5 Tulsa, Oklahoma native, broke his finger with 2 minutes, 12 seconds to play in Tuesday’s loss at Oklahoma State. He dived on the Gallagher-Iba Arena floor for a loose ball, then was jarred when 6-foot-10, 240-pound Bernard Kouma of Oklahoma State fell on him. Thompson came up from the pile-up on the court in great pain, holding his right hand.
Thompson scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in 13 minutes at Oklahoma State. He was playing for the first time in two weeks. He suffered a back injury — Self on Thursday for the first time called it a cracked vertebre in the lower back — at practice prior to the KU-Texas game on Jan. 2 and missed the next three contests.
“Bryce had surgery this morning. They said the surgery went very, very well,” Self said of surgery on the finger on Thompson’s shooting hand. “There will be a natural period of time that has to take place to give it a chance to begin to heal. When it does that,” Self added, “after two or three weeks maybe he can get back in the gym, start shooting and things.
“We don’t know if it’s going to be a month. We don’t know if it is going to be seven weeks. We don’t know right now. We do know positively that it (surgery) went well and everything they had to do went exactly as expected. He will make a complete recovery. We just want it to happen sooner rather than later,” Self added.
Self said it’s truly a shame the freshman was hurt so soon after returning from the back injury.
“He was out 17 days,” Self said. “He wants to play against OU (on Jan. 9). We won’t let him. We get clearance for him to play against Oklahoma State. If you watch him (and) against Oklahoma State he moved well. There were absolutely no lingering effects on the back.
“(Then) the scrum occurs … that was maybe the most violent unintentional hit that a kid can take. He is lying flat on his face and a dude that weighs 260 pounds (Kouma) jumps directly on his head going after the ball.
“I’m not saying anything illegal,” Self quickly added, “I’m not saying anything bad. The timing was off. It was a foul (on Oklahoma State). Everybody knows that. They missed it. It’s been admitted by everybody. But the whole thing is regardless of that, face down somebody 260 pounds just falling on your face onto a hard floor.”
Thompson actually suffered a bruise on his face from impact.
“They (doctors) said initially he broke his nose,” Self said of Thompson. “Fortunately he didn’t break his nose, he just bruised it bad. Then the back situation … fortunately he didn’t reinjure that. Obviously he fell in a way that broke his right index finger.”
Self said though Thompson, “needs the reps bad, he’ll come back. He’s tough as nails. How about him putting his body out there, with a lower body (injury) situation, can’t hurt it worse but to still yet have the confidence to go in there (after the ball) head first. He didn’t play great against Oklahoma State, but we came back (from 16-point deficit) with him in the game because he competed. Tristan (Enaruna) too. I was very disappointed and hurt for (Thompson) because he wants to be out there so bad.”
Self said he spoke to Thompson after surgery.
“He’s human. He’s probably a little down,” Self said. “I told him he should let it last 48 or 72 hours. Then after that you’ve got to figure out some way to spin this into a positive. He knows that. He is a winner. He’ll respond.”
For the year, Thompson is averaging 5.1 points (on 35.3% shooting) and 1.3 rebounds a game with 10 assists against 12 turnovers in 10 games. Thompson, a McDonald’s All-American in high school, is averaging 17.1 minutes per game his freshman season.
Meanwhile, Self said junior wing Tyon Grant-Foster, who appeared to hurt his shoulder in the first half shortly after entering Tuesday’s game and did not return, is OK.
“I think he should be fine,” Self said.
