Mitch Lightfoot to start over David McCormack for Kansas Jayhawks basketball
There will be a change in Kansas’ men’s basketball starting lineup Tuesday that has nothing to do with injury.
Mitch Lightfoot will open in place of David McCormack during the Jayhawks’ Big 12 opener at Oklahoma State, scheduled for an 8 p.m. tipoff at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The change follows Saturday’s 76-67 home win over George Mason in which the 6-foot-8, 225-pound Lightfoot tied a career high with 14 points, while the 6-10, 250-pound McCormack struggled with one point and four rebounds in 10 1/2 minutes.
McCormack has started all 12 games in the post this season after starting 28 of the 29 games he played in during the 2020-21 season. Lightfoot started seven games as a sophomore and one in 2020-21.
“This maybe will give David a chance to watch from the bench to start out and hopefully perform better when he gets in there,” KU coach Bill Self said Monday in announcing the lineup switch. “Let’s call it like it is, I love David McCormack. We will not be a terrific team this year unless he performs well. That’s the bottom line.
“We’ve got to do some things to help him perform better. That’s it. It’s not punishment.”
McCormack averages 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game. He’s played 18.4 minutes per contest. Lightfoot averages 5.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per contest.
“I anticipate David playing well. I do. Of course, I anticipate him playing well all the time. He’s too good a player not to play well. But maybe this will take a little pressure off him. That’s it,” Self said. “And if he plays well, and he does what he’s capable of doing, he’ll move right back in there (as starter).
“But I think this is a good opportunity to give Mitch a shot, to see what he can do in that position. And let’s call it like it is: Six years, five playing … the kid’s done pretty much everything he’s supposed to do for us, and he’s not been a starter. And I remember telling Mitch when he was young, I said, ‘You know what, if you stick around here long enough, I think you’ll end up starting for us.’ I kept my promise,’’’ Self added with a smile.
Asked how McCormack reacted to the news that he’ll be coming off the bench against Oklahoma State, Self said: “It wasn’t a one-on-one conversation. It was a conversation … the thing about it is, and I’ll probably talk to him one-on-one, but the thing about it is, it’s a team thing. I mean, you do what’s best for the team.
“If something’s not working, you don’t need to candy-coat it. You can just be direct. When somebody else isn’t playing well, you certainly have no problem telling them that. It was just a direct deal with the team, saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to try something different. We’re going to start Mitch. Mitch has played well. He’s earned the opportunity. And David, maybe this will give you a chance to come off the bench and have a little bit different perspective, and maybe be a little bit more relaxed when you’re out there.’ So that’s all it was. You should look at minutes played more so than who starts.”
Self said he has no idea how many minutes McCormack will wind up with Tuesday as compared to Lightfoot.
“I’m not going into it thinking Mitch plays this, David plays that, whatever. I’m going into it thinking we’ve got to start piecing that 5 spot together better, where we’re getting that 20 (points) and 12 (rebounds) night in and night out,” Self said.
Self was asked if there was any “uneasiness” about making a lineup switch after an 11-1 nonconference season (with one game left versus Kentucky on Jan. 29).
“We’ve bet on David all along. We’ve bet on David for the last. … you know, he started for us as a freshman after Doke (Udoka Azubuike) went down,” Self said. “So David, we bet on him all last year, and he ends up averaging about 16 (points) and nine (rebounds) the last half of the Big 12 season. We’re not giving up on that. But I do know this: When he’s good, he’s better than anybody else when they’re good. But when he’s laboring a little bit, I do think those other guys (Lightfoot, plus KJ Adams and Zach Clemence) are good enough they can give us some more production.”
In injury and illness news, Self said the team has had no COVID issues since Bobby Pettiford tested positive prior to Saturday’s game against George Mason. Meanwhile, Remy Martin (swollen, stiffness in knee), who did not play Saturday, practiced on Monday and should be available for Tuesday’s game.
“He did. He’s OK,” Self said Monday afternoon in a text message to The Star when asked if Martin practiced and if there was a status report on Martin’s availability for the league opener.
Earlier, Self said he was hopeful Martin could play Tuesday.
“We play against an athletic, fast team, one so good in transition. We need as much quickness as we can have out there,” he said. Pettiford will be unavailable for the game. He has been out the past several weeks because of an abdominal strain.
