How is Christian Reeves’ injury recovery going with Kansas basketball?

LAWRENCE — Earlier this summer, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self outlined a timeline for Christian Reeves’ injury recovery.

Self noted Reeves wouldn’t do anything more than non-contact work until early-to-mid October. That came after Self mentioned Reeves played this past season with an injured shoulder at Charleston. It meant while the 7-foot-2, 260-pound fifth-year center would have a chance to contribute this season, there’d be some ground to make up in the battle for a starting job with the 7-foot, 255-pound junior center Paul Mbiya.

Fast forward to late July, and the timeline doesn’t appear to have changed. It’s one of the reasons that, in addition to looking for more depth in the front court, Self is open to the idea of adding another big man to the roster. KU’s roster might be finished, but it isn’t set quite yet.

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“Should (Reeves) be ready by season, full speed? Absolutely,” Self said Wednesday as the offseason progressed for KU. “When he’ll be live, full contact? I don’t know … if that’s early October or middle October or whenever it’ll be, depending on if he doesn’t have any setbacks. But when he comes back, we’re hopeful he’s five-on-zero full speed. Just no contact. So, he won’t be behind in what we’re trying to put in or anything like that.”

There’s significant production to replace in KU’s front court, even with Mbiya returning from last season’s team, considering Flory Bidunga transferred to Louisville. Bidunga was an All-Big 12 Conference first team selection for the league and the defensive player of the year for it as well. Mbiya shined late during the NCAA tournament, but will need to take a significant step forward.

There are three exhibition games set for Kansas, all at home. The Jayhawks play Pittsburg State on Oct. 16, Louisville on Oct. 21 and Duke on Oct. 25. All three will be valuable opportunities to see what KU’s front court situation looks like.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: How is Christian Reeves’ injury recovery going with Kansas basketball?