Wayne Simien’s senior season at Kansas University will not be injury free.

Simien, who missed five games his freshman season, 22 his sophomore year and one his junior campaign, will be out four to six weeks following surgery Monday to repair a ligament pulled away from the bone in his left thumb.

“We all feel for Wayne,” KU basketball coach Bill Self said Monday night. “After visiting with Wayne, his family and all the doctors who have seen him, I strongly encouraged Wayne to go through the procedure.

“We believe having Wayne at 100 percent the final two months of the season is far better than having him 60 to 70 percent. We certainly feel like this is the best thing. We won’t look back, and we’ll spin it into a positive.”

Self said the 6-foot-9, 255-pound Simien, who was hit hard on the thumb as he prepared to go up for a shot in the lane with 13:45 left in Saturday’s win over South Carolina, could have continued playing uninterrupted with a splint or small cast. However, surgery eventually would have been needed to correct the problem in his nonshooting hand.

It was decided now was the best time, considering if recovery time goes as planned, Simien would miss between six and 10 games and be back in January.

“If you were a perimeter player you’d have less pain than a post guy who gets hit all the time,” Self said. “Wayne has played hurt. He’d like to finish his senior season 100 percent. So would we and his family.

“The kid has played with so many nagging things, he deserves to play healthy. I totally encourage and agree with this decision because in order for us to have a real strong run (in the NCAA Tournament, KU will need a healthy Simien).”

The Jayhawks also will need strong backups to Simien and have three freshmen big men who will play a lot more now.

“Our depth situation just got better because we’ll force guys to play now, so our depth is going to improve and we’re going to get ‘Dub’ back 100 percent healthy,” Self said. “So in the end, this is going be a bonus for us. In the end, you can only look at it that way, because if it’s a pity party, nobody gets better.”

Kansas University's Wayne Simien, shown here after doing the splits against Illinois-Chicago during an NCAA Tournament game, has been injured again. Simien will be out four to six weeks following surgery Monday on his left thumb, which he injured during Saturday's victory over South Carolina. Simien returned to the game against UIC on March 19, 2004 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo., but missed five games his freshman year, 22 during his sophomore season and one last season because of injuries.

Monday’s surgery capped a whirlwind of activity since an MRI was taken after Saturday’s game.

“We were getting second opinions, looking at different splints and casts,” Self said. “We went through the whole gamut. It’s not like a football player, where you can tape it up and go. You’ve got to be able to use both hands. The best option was surgery.”

The surgery, which was performed in Lawrence by a Kansas City hand specialist, took place at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

“We sent managers to the University of Missouri today and doctors there helped us out because of Kareem Rush’s situation a few years ago,” Self said of the former Mizzou player who had similar surgery.

“We’ve talked to specialists in Kansas City and specialists at NBA franchises, and they’ve told us it’s a common injury. It’s a minor deal by their (NBA) standards.”

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In the final analysis it was Simien’s call, and he made the decision Monday afternoon.

“We had the surgeon on call,” Self said, “because if the decision was made to have it done today, we didn’t want to prolong doing it. We want to get Wayne back as quickly as possible.

“We thought about this, and Wayne made the decision. It’s a decision he had to come to peace about, and I’m sure he prayed about it with his family, and we all thought this was in the best interest for Wayne.”

Self said Simien showed great courage in playing in pain after suffering the injury and getting the thumb wrapped for crunch time in Saturday’s game. He didn’t reinjure the thumb at all the rest of the contest.

“If our fans really understood how much courage for him to come back and finish that game … he was hurting,” Self said. “There was no way he could play two hours later. There’s no way he could play today. There’s no way he could play tomorrow. Could it possibly calm down to the point he could play pain-free? Probably not.

“But the bottom line is every time he was in a situation where it got hit, he’d be right back to where he was (Saturday).”

Simien was not available for comment after surgery but did give a message to his coach to tell fans.

“We could have released this (this) morning,” Self said, “but it would have leaked out tonight, and Wayne said, ‘We’ve got to let people know. Everybody’s worried about me. We need to let them know that I’m OK and let’s let people know what’s going on.'”

KU will play its first game without Simien, who averages 17.4 points and 12 rebounds a game, Wednesday night. The Jayhawks will meet Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a 7 p.m. tip at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.