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Kansas adds a big man to their roster, but not the big man they need

Oklahoma State v Kansas

LAWRENCE, KS - JANUARY 14: Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts from the bench during the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Allen Fieldhouse on January 14, 2017 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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Kansas has made an addition to their roster, but it’s not the one that Jayhawks were hoping for.

James Sosinki, a 6-foot-7, 260 pound tight end on the Kansas football team will walk-on to the basketball team this season. Sosinki averaged 19.1 points and 12.6 boards as a freshman at a community college before opting to play football at Kansas. At this point, Kansas - who is down to just seven scholarship players - needs bodies, preferably big bodies, and Sosinki can provide that.

At this point, Bill Self told reporters on Monday, the hope for Sosinki is mainly to provide a big body to bang against Udoka Azubuike when the team is practicing on the road. The Lawson twins are at practice in Lawrence, but they aren’t traveling with the team.

Reinforcements are on the way. Sam Cunliffe will be eligible after the first semester, but he’ll only add to the back court depth. There is hope that the Jayhawks can add Silvio De Sousa, a 6-foot-10 high school senior in the Class of 2018, but that won’t come until the semester break, either.

And then there is Billy Preston.

The 6-foot-10, 240 pound freshman was brought in to play the Perry Ellis role this season, but he’s yet to be cleared to play as the school continues to investigate and work with the NCAA over a car that Preston was driving on campus.

“This is something our people have worked really hard on. We think it’ll come to a head soon,” Self said. “Hopefully it’ll come to a head in a way that we held him out for precautionary reasons. We just don’t know that yet.”

“It’s unfortunate because the way this system is set up and the way we’re attacking this and when I say attacking I mean that in the literal sense, we are trying to resolve this as quickly as possible. It’s just not going to be something that happens as quick as we want it to happen.”

“We are very hopeful we are nearing the conclusion to the point where maybe we can find something out in the relatively near future, but I don’t think it’s going to be by Wednesday.”

The No. 2 Jayhawks play Washington at the Sprint Center on Wednesday.