Kansas forward KJ Adams Jr. (24) and the Jayhawks wait as the starting lineup is announced on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Topeka — The Kansas men’s basketball team has found a way for recently graduated forward KJ Adams to remain around the program.

Head coach Bill Self said on Monday at the Topeka Jayhawk Club’s annual Otto Schnellbacher Classic event that Adams will be a member of the KU coaching staff next year as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in his final collegiate game on March 20.

“We’re going to hire him in some capacity,” Self said. “KJ’s going to be part of our staff next year. And whatever capacity that is, I don’t know from a title standpoint yet, but whatever it is, (it will) allow him to stick around, be at practice every day and also work on rehab.”

Adams suffered the devastating injury with just over three minutes remaining in KU’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Arkansas in Providence, Rhode Island, as the Jayhawks held a three-point lead.

He tumbled to the ground while attempting to push the ball up the floor after obtaining a defensive rebound, and left the floor without putting weight on his left leg. In the following minutes, KU crumbled and was outscored 15-5, suffering a rare first-round elimination from the tournament.

In the aftermath of the game, Self had said there was hardly even a postgame message to the team because of the severity of and emotions surrounding Adams’ injury.

“It’s one thing to lose the game,” he said at the time, “but to see him potentially lose a year on top of the game, you know, that’s a pretty big blow.”

Less than a week later, Self announced that Adams had undergone successful surgery to repair the torn Achilles, writing in a statement on social media that Adams was “in good spirits” and would “attack his rehab with his patented toughness.”

All indications on Monday were that everything was proceeding according to plan.

“He went home and he’s not coming back until next week,” Self said. “He’s doing fine. I think he’s in a boot and has like one or two more weeks in a boot. But the doctors say he’s progressing great. It’s still going to be a year before he’s able to do too much.”

A native of Austin, Texas, Adams spent four years with the Jayhawks. He began in a spot role with the 2021-22 national title, evolved into an undersized starting center the following year — when he was named the Big 12’s most improved player — and then served as a key starter during his junior and senior seasons. As a senior he averaged 9.4 points and a career-high 5.0 rebounds.

He now becomes essentially the third addition to this year’s coaching staff after Jacque Vaughn replaced the retiring Norm Roberts as an assistant coach and Lexi Price was promoted to replace Fred Quartlebaum as director of basketball operations.

The move to retain Adams on staff in the wake of a severe injury is reminiscent of when former Jayhawk Perry Ellis — although several years removed from his KU tenure at the time — tore his patellar tendon at The Basketball Tournament and served as a video coordinator under Self during the following season.