While one KU basketball center recovers from injury, another has big opportunity
Kansas basketball center Christian Reeves continues to make progress in his recovery from labrum surgery, coach Bill Self said Monday.
The former College of Charleston men’s basketball center had successful surgery for a torn labrum in April.
Self provided an update on Reeves’ recovery Monday.
“I think he will be in a sling for another week or half a week,” Self said of the 7-foot-2, 255-pound center. “He might come out of it on Thursday. He will start doing a lot more range-of-motion rehab, but the reality is it’s not going to be contact with him, probably, until the first of October.
“Even though he can do all the non-contact, he can do 5-on-0, he can do shooting stuff, but he won’t be able to get hit in this area (up high) until probably early-mid October.”
Reeves announced his transfer to KU in April. He played two seasons at Duke and one at Clemson before playing for Charleston in 2025-26. He averaged 11.1 points and 7.8 rebounds a game for the Cougars.
For the Jayhawks, Reeves is an important piece. He will likely battle with returning big man Paul Mbiya for the starting role.
“One of the biggest keys we have is Christian, just him getting healthy,” Self said. ”When he gets healthy, God, we’ll go from being a small team to one of the biggest around.”
Mbiya will have an opportunity to showcase himself as Reeves recovers from injury. The 7-footer from Kinshasa, Congo, averaged 1.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 21 games during the 2025-26 season. He showed flashes of promise during the NCAA Tournament, leading Self to praise him throughout the tournament.
He had eight points and three rebounds while playing 16 minutes in KU’s first-round victory over Cal Baptist. He also had four points and six rebounds in 13 minutes in KU’s season-ending loss to St. John’s.
Mbiya almost left the Jayhawks in April, but after a back-and-forth leading up to the transfer portal deadline, he and his representatives reached a deal to return to Kansas.
“It’s there for Paul to take, at least initially,” Self said of the center competition. “We could play small, but the reality of it is that I’d rather not do that.”
Mbiya and guard Kohl Rosario are the only two returning contributors from last season’s roster.
“It’s a different world and you guys probably don’t see it the same way, but when you make a decision to go in on Tyran (Stokes, No. 1 recruit), that automatically eliminates you retaining some other guys,” Self said. “They can obviously make (significantly) more money somewhere else.
“I think Paul, if he gets the opportunity, which he will, I think he can do some things that we haven’t seen from a production standpoint.”
