HEARING: Zach Clemence Injury Update

Passing along what I'm hearing on Clemence's knee injury

EVERYTHING IN THIS NEWSLETTER IS BASED UPON WHAT I AM HEARING FROM PEOPLE I TRUST. PLEASE DO NOT MISTAKE THIS FOR FACT OR FOR ACTUAL JOURNALISM, WHICH HAS VERIFICATION STANDARDS THAT I HAVE NOT ADHERED TO. I DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT.

I want to preface this with the biggest “just passing along what I’m hearing” that I possibly can. Things could change. But people I trust have indicated what they believe is the extent of the injury at this point, so I’m passing it along.

With that, I’ve heard Zach Clemence suffered a hyperextended knee Saturday vs. Iowa State. The key to his recovery time likely depends on whether or not a fracture occurred with the hyperextension. KU currently fears Clemence did fracture the knee as well.

Playing doctor from the sidelines (beyond this) is a fool’s errand. I’m not going to get into recovery timelines. I’d think KU will provide an accurate update after the Texas game.

Here’s the play where the injury occurred. I decided to include it because the broadcast missed it entirely. You can see he’s immediately in pain and points to the bench right after he comes down. Also, MJ Rice is exposed on this one 😩.

Mike Vernon @M_Vernon

Zach Clemence injury update coming soon to The Hearings

I don’t know how this impacts his chance to return this season. Sources around KU initially feared it may be worse than a hyperextension, so at least it isn’t all bad news. However, it’s still unfortunate timing for Clemence, who was finally starting to look a bit more comfortable.

Clemence was averaging just 6.1 minutes per game. The impact doesn’t create a huge hole in the rotation. Instead, the Jayhawks lose additional flexibility off their already-struggling bench. KU’s options were already slim at the five, and this makes things even tighter.