Bill Self announced this afternoon that Ben McLemore and Jamari Traylor were both cleared by the NCAA as partial qualifiers. The ruling means that both are ineligible to participate for the duration of the 2011-2012 basketball season but can begin practicing in the Spring in preparation for play in 2012-2013.
The ruling means that a Kansas team looking to reload is left very thin with only half of the incoming class actually finding their way to the court this fall. While neither was expected to be a game changer, the accumulating effect of the three rulings makes for a pretty fuzzy picture for Bill Self.
Beyond the few known commodities of Tyshawn Taylor, Thomas Robinson and Elijah Johnson Kansas is relying on improvement off the bench and they will work without the luxury of depth which is something Bill Self has enjoyed for the past several seasons. One day after being selected as the preseason favorite in the conference, this news certainly puts a bit of a damper on things heading into tonight. One thing is certain, recruiting has to make a move in the right direction in the near future and Bill Self has MORE THAN ENOUGH playing time to sell to any number of 2012 and 2013 prospects.