LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas center Joel Embiid is expected to miss the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

Embiid got a second opinion on his ailing lower back from a specialist in Los Angeles on Monday, and the school says the physician confirmed the original diagnosis of a stress fracture.

The school says Embiid’s treatment for the injury makes him “unlikely to play in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.”

A potential top choice in the NBA draft should he choose to declare, Embiid sat out Kansas’ final two regular-season games, a home victory against Texas Tech and a road loss against West Virginia. The Jayhawks had already clinched the outright Big 12 title.

— Associated Press —