Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball coach Bill Self extends his best wishes to former one-and-done KU player Johnny Furphy, the second-year Indiana Pacers guard who suffered a season-ending ACL tear after landing awkwardly on a dunk during a recent game against the Toronto Raptors.
“I texted him. I haven’t heard back from him,” Self, KU’s 23rd year coach, said Thursday at a news conference held in advance of Saturday’s Big 12 battle between the No. 9-ranked Jayhawks (19-5, 9-2 Big 12) and No. 5 Cyclones (21-3, 8-3).
“You know, it’s amazing,” Self said. “We were thinking he needed another year (of college) and he just goes off and grows two more inches, it looks like, and gains 25 pounds or 20 pounds. He looks like a pro. And if I’m not mistaken, he started 15 or so games for the Pacers.
Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard is a former KU guard.
“I know they love him,” Self said of Furphy. “So yes, it’s disappointing, but he’s young. It’s also a blip on the radar. You know, rehab it hard and come back, and he’ll be as good as ever a year from now.”
Furphy, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound native of Melbourne, Australia, has averaged 5.1 points and 4.4 rebounds while playing 18.4 minutes a game in 35 games for the Pacers, who are off to a 15-40 start. During his rookie season with the NBA team, he averaged 2.1 points while playing 7.6 minutes a game in 50 games.
During his one-and-done season at KU in 2023-24, Furphy, who is now 21, averaged 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest. He then became Indy’s second-round draft pick.
“This is a very unfortunate situation but time goes by quickly. He’s very young. I expect him to make a full recovery,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday on 1075 The Fan radio in Indianapolis.
“It’ll be several months. You hear a different time frame with all this stuff, eight to 12 months. No one knows for sure. He’s a great kid. He’s very disappointed and so are we, but he will be back.”
Self on Thursday also was asked about former KU big man Hunter Dickinson being selected to participate in the NBA’s G League “Next Up” game at 1:30 p.m. Central Time on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Dickinson, a 7-1, 255-pound member of the Birmingham (Alabama) Squadron, has averaged 16.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game in his rookie season.
“I hope so,” Self said when asked whether Dickinson, who was not selected in the 2025 NBA Draft, has a bright future in the pros.
“He can score the ball and he can rebound the ball. I get such a kick out of he didn’t do this and he didn’t do that, but people forget he still got 18 and 10 every game (in two seasons at KU). I certainly hope it for him. If he could get on a roster, you know, big guy that can stretch it and can really pass and understands the game, be a great teammate, I could see him playing in the league for a while.”