Lagerald Vick Taking Leave of Absence from Kansas Because of Personal Matters

The Kansas Jayhawks announced Thursday that senior guard Lagerald Vick will take a leave of absence from the team effective immediately.

"Lagerald has some personal matters that require his immediate attention and he will be taking a leave of absence from our team," head coach Bill Self said. "During this time, we will respect Lagerald's privacy. There is no timetable for his return."

"We need him here for a couple weeks," Vick's mother La La told Gary Bedore of the Kansas City Star. "I need him. There’s a lot going on. It’ll work out.”

Vick is the team's second-leading scorer with an average of 14.1 points per game and has appeared in all 23 contests to this point of the season.

As the only senior on the roster, Vick also provides the type of experience otherwise not available when he is gone.

This news also comes at a terrible time for Kansas, which has lost four of its last six games to drop to 17-6 on the season. The Jayhawks are now 6-4 in conference and their streak of 14 straight Big 12 regular-season titles is in jeopardy.

The team was already light on depth even with Vick in the lineup—only eight men played more than one minute in Tuesday's loss to Kansas State—and now the remaining rotation will have to handle an even bigger load.

Kansas' next game is set for Saturday at home against Oklahoma State.