The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

DWIGHT Coleby was already set to spend the 2015-16 season on the sidelines as a transfer for the Kansas Jayhawks, but a knee injury will now keep the Bahamian front court player off the practice floor as well.

Coleby suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during a light team workout last week and will now spend his transfer season undergoing the rehab process and not working with the practice squad.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self announced Coleby is expected to have surgery on October 11 and will be available and healthy for the start of the 2016-17 campaign. Coleby will have two seasons of eligibility left.

On Jayhawks media day, Self discussed the depth of the team, something he expects Coleby to be a part of once he returns.

“Yeah, I think we’re deeper than what we have been. You know, we’ve got - obviously Dwight (Coleby) is not part of it this year with his injuries, he wouldn’t be anyway (since he transferred). We’ve got 12 pretty good guys, and all 12 are not going to play, 10 may not play,” he said.

“I do think that we have some nice pieces, but the thing I like about it as much as anything is if somebody is not doing what they can do to help our team win, it’s not going to be that difficult to try to give somebody else an opportunity to do that.”

Last June, Coleby announced his decision to leave the Ole Miss Rebels and signed a “grant-in-aid agreement” to join the Kansas Jayhawks programme.

The former Ole Miss Rebel spoke to KUsports.com on the difficulty of sitting out while watching his new team play, but said he is committed to improvement on his game.

“It will be tough. It will be long. I just have to stay focused, stick with it, keep working at it. Hopefully it’ll be good,” he said. But he also noted what he plans to work on during his season on the sidelines.

“Everything. Getting stronger, quicker, more skilled in the post.”

Just under two weeks after he announced his decision to transfer, Coleby made the official announcement to join the Jayhawks.

“It was a hard decision,” Coleby said. “I thought about it for a while. After talking with my family I decided I needed something different, something new. As soon as I came here I had a feeling it was good.”

The six-foot, nine-inch, 240-pound sophomore was also named an SEC First-Year Academic Honour Roll in two seasons with the Rebels.

It was a progressive season for him as he scored in double figures in six games this season where he earned three starts but appeared in 34 games.

In his freshman season with the Rebels, Coleby played in 28 games with four starts and averaged 2.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in 10.4 minutes. He shot 47 per cent from the floor, and finished with 18 blocked shots, fifth on the team.