Remy Martin had knee bumped after Texas loss, will miss next Kansas Jayhawks game
Kansas super senior Remy Martin, who has missed the Jayhawks’ last three men’s basketball games because of a lingering right knee bruise, had his knee “bumped” during the fans’ court storming that took place at Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, after Texas’ 79-76 victory over KU on Monday night, KU coach Bill Self revealed on Tuesday night.
Self said the contact to Martin’s knee doesn’t figure to affect the guard’s recovery from his injury, but the contact was “significant to him because he’s still so sore.”
Self explained what happened at the conclusion of the game on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show on Tuesday.
“Last night the court got rushed,” Self said. “I am not going to complain about that at all. It was a good win for them and all that stuff. But they (UT security) weren’t prepared for the court being rushed. I don’t know if you noticed on TV, (but) they kind of didn’t have any idea where we were supposed to go.
“We went out this one way, and the police officers are trying to figure out which tunnel to take us out of and all that stuff. Their kids didn’t do anything wrong, I’m not even hinting that,” Self added.
The court storming appeared to be mostly by members of the student body.
“But Remy got bumped and hurt his knee,” Self stated. “It’s something that minor … I mean he wasn’t rushed, it was just bumped. A guy bumps up against the side of your knee, you get (hit on) that bruise and it injures it.
“Now does it set him back longer? I don’t think that, but it’s just so tender for him right now that something that could appear to be so minor could still be significant to him because he’s still so sore.”
Of the court storming at Texas, KU associate athletic director Dan Beckler told The Star on Tuesday night: “The Big 12 Conference does have a sportsmanship policy that addresses any issues related to fans coming onto the court after the game. We are working with them on that process.”
Meanwhile Self said Martin, who has been hobbled by the knee bruise since the Nevada game on Dec. 29, has been ruled out for Saturday’s home game against Oklahoma.
“He’s not going to play this week. We’ve done more MRIs and everything, it’s just sore,” Self said of Martin’s knee. Doctors certainly understand it. He is not going to play this week. We’ll keep him out, and we’ll re-evaluate again next week. We’ve already made the decision on what we are going to do the rest of the week,” Self added of continued rest and rehab.
“He (Martin) is frustrated. He said, ‘Nobody’s seen me play since I’ve been here (after transferring from Arizona State).’ I said, ‘I know. I know.’ He wants to be out there,” Self noted.
As to when Martin might return to the rotation … Self spoke in depth on that issue on Hawk Talk.
“It’s just going to take us a while. If we could have him back at the end of the month where he is full speed, which is three weeks from now — hopefully we’ll get him back before then — but he won’t be full speed maybe. If he could be full speed going into a week before the Big 12 (tournament) and then you still have him another week to practice before the NCAA Tournament that would probably be, I don’t want to say our best-case scenario, but that’s fairly realistic.
“Then we’d have a better team going into the tournament than anybody has seen all year. That would be the hope I would have,” Self added.
Self said when Martin does return he’ll “be in the mix.”
“He’ll have a role. Is it to rest Juan (Harris) or to play with Juan or be our lead guard? He’ll be in the mix,” Self said.
“I don’t want to sound negative at all. We shouldn’t be looking at it, ‘Can he be back this weekend or next weekend or be back whenever?’ This is something that is his call. We are hopeful it happens sooner rather than later but we’ve been saying that a while now,” Self noted.
“We don’t know on the progress he’ll get from an explosiveness standpoint and a soreness standpoint, I would hope like heck he can play at the end of next week (KU plays at West Virginia on Feb., 19) or something like that.
“I am nervous even if he comes back and plays some it’s still not going to be him,” Self continued.
Self said: “I’d like to see him at 95%. The way he’s been since Christmas is not Remy. He came back to play, but that’s not Remy. He knows that. We all know that. We need him to get back to the point he can practice and be part of the team where roles would be established. There’s still hope and still time. Everybody’s optimistic.”
In the meantime, Martin has been an extra coach on the bench, Self said.
“He the best on the bench. He’s been great,” Self said. “I talked to him last night when everybody went out to warmups. I said, ‘I’m proud of you. You found a way to put your hand print on what we’re doing while not out there.’”
Self said Martin has been working with and encouraging sophomore guard Joseph Yesufu, who has been in the rotation the past two games.
“He really wants Joe to be successful. He’s been very helpful and positive, and that’s been fun to watch,” Self said.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 8:03 PM.
