Billy Preston out amid eligibility concern

The Kansas Jayhawks will be down a key player when they take on the Kentucky Wildcats tonight.

About an hour before the game was set to begin, the school announced that freshman forward Billy Preston would not play. Kansas is holding out Preston after he had an accident this weekend in a car for which the school says it needs a “clearer financial picture.”

“Clearer financial picture” appears to be a nice way of saying that there’s an issue with how Preston came to acquire that car, thus affecting his eligibility. Hopefully, it turns out to be nothing and Preston is able to play, but seeing him out for the first two games is concerning. He also missed Kansas’ opening win over Tennessee State.

Preston, as you may recall, was one of the top players in the 2018 class, not to mention someone that badly wanted a UK offer. But while Preston was talented enough to be worthy of a UK offer, that never came, as John Calipari felt better about other guys he was recruiting in the Class of 2018.

Calipari has a pretty good track record with great recruits who want UK offers but don’t get them. It looks like Preston may be the latest example of this.