The Kansas Jayhawks players will attend the funeral for the mother of Thomas Robinson today in Washington, D.C. Robinson's mother passed away last weekend and, after playing against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday shortly after hearing the news, Robinson decided to skip the Colorado Buffaloes game Tuesday to be with his family in D.C.
Robinson has also lost two grandparents in the last month so (understandably) he wants to be with his 9-year-old sister.
"The guys left out of there, I think, in a pretty fair frame of mind, but we're an emotionally spent team right now. And if you know Thomas' situation and how much his mother meant to him, in large part because that's all he had. The only set of grandparents he knew died within the last three weeks.
The NCAA has allowed Kansas to pay for funeral expenses, which is a departure from their strict interpretation of NCAA rules in the past.
"The NCAA has been unbelievable," Self said. "They are trying to make as many allowances with the rules as they possibly can. In this situation, when there is as much hardship as there is, I think the NCAA is definitely looking out for the student-athlete welfare."
Kansas will fly out to the services and return on Thursday in time for Saturday's game against Kansas State. It's unclear if Robinson will be back for the Kansas State game.