SAN DIEGO, California — Kansas basketball will be without Samis Calderon for Friday’s men’s NCAA tournament game against California Baptist.
According to a KU official, Calderon’s father, Luis Calderon, has died. Calderon traveled to be with his family and is expected to be back on Saturday. Luis lived in El Paso, Texas.
Calderon is in the midst of his freshman year with the Jayhawks, after arriving with the 2025 recruiting class ahead of this season. He competed with Overtime Elite before making the move to college. He’s appeared in 16 games off the bench for Kansas.
Should KU win Friday against No. 13 seed California Baptist, and Calderon return as expected, the Jayhawks would likely be facing No. 5 seed St. John’s on Sunday. St. John’s is in the East Region with No. 4 seed Kansas in San Diego, California. St. John’s is currently leading No. 12 seed Northern Iowa in the second half of a round of 64 matchup.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball’s Samis Calderon misses NCAA game