Kansas’ McLemore to Practice Thursday

Kansas’s superstar freshman guard Ben McLemore “will practice [Thursday]” after suffering a Grade 1 ankle sprain in Monday night’s win over Baylor, Kansas coach Bill Self told SNY.tv Wednesday.

Self said the 6-foot-5 McLemore will “probably” play Saturday against Texas in Austin assuming he doesn’t reinjure the ankle.

McLemore is averaging 16.4 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Jayhawks (15-1, 3-0 Big 12) and his stock is quickly rising with NBA scouts.

“Shooting up the charts,” one veteran NBA scout told SNY.tv. “Shoots it straight. Really runs the floor and finishes.”

He’s also the leading vote getter in our National College Player of the Year poll, where he leads Duke’s Mason Plumlee, Creighton’s Doug McDermott and Louisville’s Russ Smith, among others.

Photo: Kansas Athletics

Written by Adam Zagoria

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Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.