Luke Axtell's collegiate basketball career is over.
Lingering back problems will sideline the senior guard-forward during the post-season, effectively ending his career as a Jayhawk, Kansas University head coach Roy Williams announced Thursday.
The No. 9 Jayhawks play at 6 p.m. today in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo., against Kansas State University, which beat Nebraska, 62-58, in first-round play Thursday. Sunday evening, Kansas will learn its opening-round NCAA Tournament opponent.
Williams said that while the loss to the Jayhawks was great, the news was a bigger blow to Axtell.
The 6-foot-10 Axtell, who hails from Austin, Tex., has a degenerative disc in his lower back that caused him to miss several games late in the season. He also missed the Jayhawks' first four games with a sprained ankle and two later games when he reinjured the ankle.
Many different treatment methods have been tried but nothing relieved his disc symptoms enough to allow Axtell to play.
He played in 19 of 28 games this season. He averaged 5.3 points and 2.6 rebounds.
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