Mario Little cleared to practice with the Jayhawks men’s basketball team

Friday, December 5, 2008

Mario Little will begin practicing with the Jayhawks today after missing the team’s first seven games and more than a month of practice.

Little, a junior guard, transferred to Kansas from Chipola Community College in Marianna, Fla. But he brought along an unwelcome companion, a stress fracture in his lower left leg.

Little worked out and played in pick-up games with his teammates over the summer and appeared in all three of Kansas’ exhibition games in Canada over Labor Day weekend before trainers instructed Little to sit out. Missing so much time didn’t feel natural to Little.

“I’m looking forward to getting back out there and working with the team,” Little said in a statement. “I’m not used to watching games from the sidelines in street clothes.”

Kansas coach Bill Self said he would ease Little into drills at practice. Little isn’t in game shape after being on crutches for most of the last month and Kansas wants to be careful not to aggravate the injury again.

The best case scenario would be for Little to play in a game in two weeks — conceivably the Dec. 20 matchup against Temple at Allen Fieldhouse.

“Really, he’s not done much since Canada,” Self said in a statement. “We’ll start slow and gradually build up.”

The 6-foot-5 Little is expected to play most of his time at small forward. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar currently starts at the position, although his natural spot is shooting guard.

Little will add immediate depth to a team that is playing five freshmen regularly. Rivals.com rated Little as the top junior-college recruit in the country last year.

He averaged just fewer than 13 points per game and five rebounds during the trip to Canada. Little, however, said his greatest strength might be his defensive intensity.

“Hopefully, now I can contribute to the team’s success,” Little said.

— — Edited by Kelsey Hayes

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