Kansas forward KJ Adams (24) is helped off the court by teammates after during the second half, Thursday, March 20, 2025 at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI. The Jayhawks lost to the Razorbacks 79-72. Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas forward KJ Adams had successful surgery on Wednesday morning to repair a torn Achilles tendon, head coach Bill Self announced.

“He is in good spirits,” Self wrote in a statement on social media. “Although this is a big setback, he’ll attack his rehab with his patented toughness and be back on the court as strong as ever.”

Adams is a senior whose collegiate career came to an abrupt end when he suffered the injury in KU’s first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Arkansas in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 20. He went down to the floor in pain after securing a rebound and attempting to bring the ball back up the court as the Jayhawks led 67-64 with just over three minutes remaining.

After Adams’ exit, KU turned the ball over several times in rapid succession and got outscored 15-5 over the remainder of the game. Self said after the loss he felt the Jayhawks could have committed the same turnovers even with Adams still in action, but noted that they might have had numbers in transition on the particular play during which Adams got injured.

Adams tallied 13 points and four rebounds in the game. On the season, he averaged 9.4 points and five boards.

The native of Austin, Texas, was a freshman at the edge of the rotation on the 2021-22 team that won the national title. The following year, playing primarily as an undersized center at 6-foot-7, he received the title of the Big 12 Conference’s most improved player. Then, as a junior, he posted his best statistical season of all with 12.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game during the 2023-24 campaign.

Adams famously played one of the best games of his career against UConn on Dec. 1, 2023, when he had lost his mother Yvonne to cancer two weeks earlier and had to leave Lawrence for her funeral shortly after the game. He played 39 minutes and scored 18 points, including some key free throws, as KU beat the defending (and eventual) national champions at Allen Fieldhouse.

He took on a somewhat smaller offensive role in his senior year but served as an emotional leader for the Jayhawks while improving as a rebounder and even more dramatically as a free-throw shooter. His ability to defend all five positions on an opponent’s roster proved particularly valuable down the stretch for KU once he returned from a dislocated shoulder in late January.

Adams’ professional future will now be on hold as he recovers from the long-term injury suffered in his final collegiate game.