KU’s Brannen Greene to start against Utah, Traylor returns

Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self said that freshman guard Devonte’ Graham is “questionable at best” to play Saturday against Utah, while sophomore wing Brannen Greene will start in place of freshman Svi Mykhailiuk in the backcourt.

Graham injured his toe during Kansas’ 75-70 victory over Georgetown on Wednesday, Self said Friday. If he is able to go against Utah at the Sprint Center at 2:15 p.m. Saturday (TV: ESPN), it will likely be in a limited role.

“He hurt his toe, so we’re trying to identify (the extent of the injury),” Self said. “A lot of it depends if he’s able to practice (Friday).

Greene, meanwhile, will make his second start of the season after scoring a career-high 19 points against Georgetown. The Jayhawks have used the same starting lineup for all of a six-game winning streak, with Frank Mason and Wayne Selden starting alongside Mykhailiuk in the backcourt and Perry Ellis and Landen Lucas starting in the paint.

Traylor will return from suspension

As expected, junior forward Jamari Traylor’s suspension for an off-court incident will last just one game. Traylor was arrested last weekend in Lawrence on suspicion of interfering with the duties of a police officer.

“He’s obviously paid the penalty for making a poor decision on not cooperating with something he wasn’t even remotely involved in,” Self said. “So it brought a lot of negative attention on him, and certainly he’s embarrassed by it. But the only way you can handle it, it’s like we told him: ‘Be a better man because of it.’”

New video coordinator

Self’s staff added a new member this month. James Cox, a former KU basketball manager, replaced outgoing video coordinator Jeff Forbes, who took a job with Synergy Sports, a video technology company. Cox recently worked a similar role with the Portland Trail Blazers.

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 2:17 PM with the headline "KU’s Brannen Greene to start against Utah, Traylor returns."