Kansas' starting center Kaun to miss 3-6 weeks

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No. 3 Kansas is hurting at the center position.

Already without the suspended junior center C.J. Giles, the Jayhawks lost starter Sasha Kaun for three-to-six weeks with a a partial tear of the patellar tendon in his right knee suffered during a Sunday workout.

"My excitement [about the start of the season] is a little tempered right now," coach Bill Self told reporters Monday. "We had a pretty rough day Sunday.

"He won't need surgery. He can't do much immediately, but the rehab process won't be known until we find out in a few days how the injury looks."

Kaun, a junior, averaged 8.2 points and 5.3 rebounds in 33 games, including 29 starts last season.

With Kaun sidelined, Sophomore Julian Wright will man the paint for the Jayhawks, likely starting alongside freshman Darrell Arthur. Wright had been expected to split time between small forward and power forward.

Giles' future with Kansas remains uncertain.

"We'll visit sometime soon," Self told reporters. "But my focus right now is not on C.J. Giles. My focus is on trying to get our team better, and right now he's not a part of our team and he may never be a part of our team.

"I'm not going to make a final decision until I've had a chance to visit with him and check some things out."

Giles, a 6-foot-11, 240-pound Seattle native, started 13 of 33 games last year, averaging 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds. He had surgery on his thumb over the summer but was reported fully healed.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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