Injuries Starting to Pile Up for Big Time Programs

UCLA, Duke, BYU, Wisconsin, and Kansas each contenders in their respective conferences, have had injuries to key players.

Most recently Shabazz Muhammad, the 6’6 freshman shooting guard of UCLA, has suffered a shoulder injury in practice this week that will keep him out 2-4 weeks.  He is the third player this fall for UCLA to have an injury problem, David Wear hurt his ankle in the past week and Tyler Lamb had surgery to repair cartilage in his knee two weeks ago.  Muhammad, the number 2 ranked player out of high school, still has not been cleared by the NCAA to compete in games yet so this injury is just another roadblock on the route to what is expected to be an amazing basketball career.

Similarly Duke has been suffering through an injury bag this fall. Marshall Plumlee this month suffered a stress fracture in his foot that will keep the 6’11 sophomore out for a month. Plumlee is expected to provide depth at both the power forward and center position.  Also, Seth Curry has a leg injury that, according to Coach Mike Krzyzewski , has limited his practice time so far. Curry, at 6’2, is believed to be the starting shooting guard this year for Duke.

At BYU, Stephen Rogers’ recurring knee problem has forced him to stop playing basketball.  The senior 6’8 forward had started last year as a major contributor with 15 three pointers in the first 10 games before tearing his meniscus in his right knee.  He had been a proven three point shooter while playing at a junior college in Arizona before transferring to BYU and was expected to continue that role with BYU this year.

Wisconsin has suffered the major loss of their starting point guard, Josh Gasser.  With All-American point guard Jordan Taylor gone, Gasser was expected to take over the role.  Last year he averaged 7.6 points and shot 45.2 percent from behind the arc.  Now Coach Bo Ryan will likely turn to redshirt freshman George Marshall to run the team this year.

Kevin Young, a senior forward for Kansas, will be out for about two weeks after breaking a bone in his hand.  Young, at 6-8, was a top reserve for the Jayhawks during last year’s run to the NCAA title game, averaging 11.4 minutes, 3.4 points and 3 rebounds per game.