SAN ANTONIO – Before Kansas set foot on the floor this season, it was no stretch to say the team's fortunes would rest on the shoulders of blue-chip newcomer Billy Preston.
Turns out, he never played a minute.
Sidelined by Kansas after a one-car, on-campus accident in November triggered an investigation into how he acquired the vehicle, Preston wound up in Europe in a detour that was nothing more than a dead end.
As a McDonalds All-American and the eighth-ranked prospect in the country when he came out of Oak Hill Academy, Preston went to Kansas with the potential to make himself a "one-and-doner," going to the NBA after one college season.
Now, though? "I don't want to say he's ruled out of being drafted. That's not accurate," said Jonathan Givony, a longtime draft analyst. "But I don't think he's helped his cause with the circumstance he's in right now."
After a troublesome 2016-17 Jayhawks season that included a reported rape at the dormitory that houses the basketball team, coach Bill Self decided to hold Preston out of Kansas' season opener for missing curfew. Preston told Self he was late because he had illegally parked his car.
The next day, the car came up again. According to the KU athletic department, Preston's car hit a curb on campus, resulting in minor damage to his tires. There was no property damage and nobody was hurt.
But KU held Preston out of the next game, against Kentucky, to get what Self called a "clearer financial picture" about Preston's car.
