Kansas Jayhawks’ freshman guard Bobby Pettiford tests positive for COVID
Kansas freshman guard Bobby Pettiford has tested positive for COVID-19 and is being isolated from his teammates at this time, Jayhawks coach Bill Self said Saturday after the Jayhawks’ 76-67 victory over George Mason at Allen Fieldhouse.
Pettiford, a 6-foot-1 freshman from Durham, North Carolina, has missed the last five games because of an abdominal strain.
Pettiford did not attend Saturday’s game.
“He tested positive two days ago,” Self said. “We did all the contact tracing. The medical staff did all that. Nobody else was in that group (close contact with Pettiford) because he’s been away from the guys. He had not been around the guys because we took a day off in that period of time.
“Contact tracing didn’t catch anybody,” Self added.
Self noted that Pettiford, “had some symptoms. He’s been away from everybody. He’s not been around since he had symptoms. That was a good thing. Hopefully that will remain the case. So you guys (media) know,” Self continued, “we’ve tested others, all negative. Doc (team doctor) and them (medical staff) handled it. I think we caught a break on that one.”
KU’s next game is scheduled for Tuesday night at Oklahoma State. It will be the Big 12 opener for both teams.
“I don’t’ know if it (status of players on team) changes unless there was contact tracing that occurred,” Self said. “When there is contact tracing, within three to five days that person is tested as well. So we fortunately didn’t have anybody fall into that. He hadn’t been around anybody since he developed symptoms. If he had, there’s no running from it.”
Self does see a scenario in which KU players and players from other teams miss games because of COVID.
“This is going to be a natural thing. We didn’t have contact tracing, (but) we played without a starter today (Remy Martin, swollen knee). It may be the norm for the next couple weeks for everybody,” Self said.
This story was originally published January 1, 2022 at 8:43 PM.
