Wayne Simien sure looks like he’s healthy when he’s sticking jump shot after jump shot in non-contact drills at practice.

But Kansas University’s sophomore power forward, who has missed the Jayhawks’ last four games because of a dislocated right shoulder, is not yet ready to resume contact work, coach Roy Williams said Monday.

“He’s shooting the heck out of it. He’s probably shooting so much he’s getting sore just from the shooting part,” Williams said. “I even said to him today, ‘My shoulder would be sore if I practiced my shot as much as you do.'”

Simien injured the shoulder against UMKC on Jan. 4. His return date is still uncertain.

“The shoulder is getting stronger, but we still have no announcement to make,” Williams said. “I think we’ll look at him again in the middle of the week and see if that shoulder is continuing to heal. I’m optimistic he’ll be back (this season), but it is guarded optimism.”

Simien will not play in the Jayhawks’ 8 p.m. game Wednesday at Colorado. What about rumors that he’ll play Saturday against No. 1 Arizona and Monday against No. 4 Texas?

“I don’t foresee that happening, I really don’t,” Williams said. “And I’d have to think I’d probably have a little say in the whole thing. But I just don’t foresee that happening myself. We’ll have to wait and see a little more on Wayne.”

Simien has been wearing a shoulder brace the last week or so.

“We’re trying to get him used to being able to play with that brace on,” Williams said of a “cadlow” brace, the same type worn by North Carolina’s Rashad McCants, who dislocated his shoulder earlier this season.

The part of the brace that would be most visible to fans is a black band strapped on Simien’s right bicep. Tubes attach the band to a girdle around the 6-foot-9, 255-pounder’s waist. As Simien moves his arm and shoulder, the tubes stretch, keeping his shoulder joint tight while still allowing the shoulder full range of motion.

“Wayne has been doing a lot of conditioning work,” Williams said. “You can’t simulate the game conditioning work and the muscle work of other guys pushing against you.”

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Carter leaves CU: Colorado forward Jason Carter has apparently decided to transfer. Carter, who played in seven games since being declared academically eligible to play in December, averaged 2.0 points and 1.4 rebounds per game for the Buffs, 11-5 overall, 1-2 in the Big 12.

“I have not heard from him. We’ve moved on. I assume he is not part of the team,” coach Ricardo Patton said Monday, noting Carter had returned to his hometown of Las Vegas.

CU also will be without senior point guard James “Mookie” Wright, who will miss at least six weeks as he awaits a review of a case which involves Wright allegedly making unwanted sexual advances to a fellow CU student.

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Upcoming slate: KU will play the Buffs at Coors Events Center, where CU has a 7-1 record, then return home to meet No. 1 Arizona and No. 4 Texas.

“It’s going to be a tough stretch coming up. We’ll find out a lot about our team,” KU senior Nick Collison said. “These three games will be about as tough as we play all season. Colorado is going to be really tough without Wayne. They have one of the best frontcourts in the league.”

With Simien out of action, 6-9 bookends Collison and Jeff Graves will again play the bulk of the inside minutes against CU’s David Harrison (7-0, 250), Stephane Pelle (6-8, 250) and Michael Morandais (6-5, 200).

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Coach likes Bucs: Williams has a tie to the Super Bowl. Tampa Bay quarterback Brad Johnson attended Owen High in Swannanoa, N.C., where Williams coached from 1973 to ’78.

“When Brad was a young kid I was coaching there. His father Rick and I played golf together and basketball together in the rec leagues. Brad used to come out on the court before the game and halftime of games and shoot a few hoops.

“He’s a great youngster and a big Kansas Jayhawk fan. I was really pulling hard for Tampa Bay (in NFC title game against Philadelphia). I didn’t know if they could do it in Philadelphia in the last game in the stadium up there. You can’t be a nicer person than Brad Johnson. He has worked extremely hard to get where he is today.”