photo by: Bill Kiser/Virgin Islands Daily News

Kansas forward McKenzie Smith, second from left, and guard Jordan Webster, second from right, watch as their teammates warm up for the Jayhawks' game against Pittsburgh on the opening day of the Paradise Jam women's college basketball tournament Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, at the University of the Virgin Islands' Elridge Blake Sports and Fitness Center on St. Thomas, V.I. Both Smith and Webster sat out the game.

The contingent of unavailable players on the Kansas women’s basketball team’s bench this year has in many games featured some of its most promising talents.

One of the players notably absent from KU’s early-season action has been Jordan Webster, a fifth-year senior from Dallas who transferred from UC Riverside in the offseason.

After his team returned from a 3-0 run through the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, KU coach Brandon Schneider provided an update on Webster on Monday, stating that she’s dealing with a “problematic” hip injury that could potentially require surgery.

“We’re just kind of waiting on some final words there,” he said.

If the Jayhawks lost Webster for good, it could be a significant blow at this early stage of the season. Webster averaged double-digit scoring in three of her four years with the Highlanders, and in 2023-24 the 5-foot-10 guard led the Big West Conference in scoring with 17.1 points per game to go with 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 steals.

She committed to KU in May and arrived on campus at the start of July. Schneider said it’s been “frustrating” not to be able to integrate her into the lineup.

“She was a really big part of our initial plan going into the season,” he said. “And we hate that Jordan hasn’t been able to participate at this point. We saw her as a potential starter.”

She would certainly have provided another complementary scoring option off the ball to S’Mya Nichols, much as fellow transfer Elle Evans and, when healthy, Brittany Harshaw have in the Jayhawks’ first eight games of the year. Webster does still have a redshirt year available if she were to miss the entire season.

“Jordan’s great,” Nichols said in October before the season began. “She has a great, solid build to her so she’s very strong. She’s a great teammate, for real she’s just always hyping us all up, and she definitely knocks down shots, I can tell you that.”

Harshaw and Wyvette Mayberry are among the other Jayhawks who have been by injury this year. Regardless, KU has opened the season 7-1 with a lone loss to Iowa and will host Wichita State on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.