Entries Tagged 'Injuries' ↓

Walk-on Jarvis Walker, a younger brother of former Kentucky player Antoine Walker, has left the team, UK Coach Billy Gillispie said at a Friday news conference.

Walker faced a difficult challenge maintaining his academic eligibility and fell short, Gillispie said. Walker hopes to continue playing, probably at a NAIA school.

Back spasms put in doubt the status of Ramon Harris on Friday. Harris had to be helped off the court and couldn’t complete practice, Gillispie said. The spasms were unrelated to the injury Harris sustained in a head-to-head collision with teammate Michael Porter during the Lamar game, Gillispie said.

Kentucky plays Florida Atlantic on Saturday.

Gillispie spoke of how well the players returned to the task at hand after the Christmas break. “Probably better than any team that has come back, as far as intensity,” he said.

Gillispie noted how UK must improve, particularly in executing a half-court offense.

Ole Miss’s injury-riddled team suffered another blow when point guard Chris Warren sustained a season-ended knee injury on Thursday.

Ole Miss confirmed the loss in a news release.

Warren was one of the Southeastern Conference’s best point guards. Now the Rebels must soldier on. Earlier this season, Ole Miss lost two other guards to injury.

Here’s the news release:

The injury-riddled 2008-09 Ole Miss basketball season continued on Friday as the team learned that sophomore point guard Chris Warren will miss the remainder of the season after a Friday morning MRI revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. It also showed a minor MCL sprain, a medial meniscus tear and a lateral bone contusion.

Warren was injured on a layup attempt during the Rebels’ final offensive possession in a 77-68 loss to No. 9 Louisville in the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational Thursday night in Cincinnati. The Orlando, Fla., native scored 18 points with four assists and three steals before sitting out the final seconds of the game.

A preseason All-Southeastern Conference first team selection by league coaches, Warren is the third member of the Ole Miss backcourt to suffer a season-ending knee injury this year. Junior Eniel Polynice, the team’s most veteran returning starter, had surgery to repair extensive cartilage damage and loose fragments in his left knee on Nov. 18, while SEC All-Freshman pick Trevor Gaskins was lost with a torn ACL in his left knee a week prior to the season opener.

“We’re obviously very disappointed for Chris,” said Rebel head coach Andy Kennedy. “I feel terrible that he will be unable to finish this season. We’ve had an unfortunate rash of knee injuries through the early part of the season, but we will come together as a team and continue to push forward. To lose a special player like Chris, in addition to Trevor and E.P., certainly affects what we are able to do on the court, but we will continue to battle.”

Through 11 games, Warren has made up one-half of Ole Miss’ dynamic duo in the backcourt, ranking in the top five in the SEC in scoring at 19.6 points per game, just behind teammate David Huertas, who ranks second in the league with 20.9 points per contest. Warren tops the SEC in minutes per game (34.4) and also ranks among the league leaders in assists, steals and three-pointers per outing.

Last year, Warren set the Ole Miss record for three-pointers in a season with 103 and the Rebel freshman record for points scored with 554. He was a unanimous selection to the SEC All-Freshman team picked by the league coaches.

Remaining scholarship players in the Rebels’ backcourt, which was tabbed “Best in the SEC” by at least one preseason publication (Blue Ribbon Yearbook), include Huertas, sophomore Zach Graham and freshmen Will Bogan and Terrico White. Bogan has served as the back-up point guard to Warren through the first 11 games of the season.

Initial reports were promising that UK junior wing Ramon Harris was not seriously injured in a first-half collision with Michael Porter.

Harris, who left Rupp Arena on a stretcher, was alert and undergoing tests, UK spokesman DeWayne Peevy said at halftime. Harris had movement in all extremities, Peevy said.

Harris and Porter were injured when they collided head to head in a loose-ball situation. Harris remained on the floor for about eight minutes.

Porter needed 10 stitches to close a cut over his left eye.

A first-half collision with Ramon Harris left Michael Porter needing 10 stitches over his left eye. He would not return to the game.

The head-to-head collision apparently seriously injured. He stayed down for about eight minutes. He was loaded onto a stretcher and removed  from the court. No report on his condition was available as of halftiime.l

Rumors circulate Kentucky basketball, sometimes with hurricane-force intensity.

The latest zephyr concerns Jodie Meeks. As posted on the Internut, er, Internet on Friday, Meeks supposedly had been seen on crutches.

So we checked. Not true, people inside and outside the UK basketball program say. Meeks is fine.

UK Coach Billy Gillispie spoke glowingly of the progress Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks are making in the recovery from injuries.

Meeks, who underwent surgery in early April to repair a bilateral sports hernia, has been playing, lifting weights and conditioining with teammates, Gillispie said on a SEC teleconference on Wednesday. “Jodie’s getting close to no soreness,” the UK coach said.

When Meeks had the surgery, his father said the player would need about 10 weeks to recover.

At about the same time, Patterson had surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left ankle. His recovery time was expected to be about four to six months.Gillispie said Patterson was doing “way better” than expected.

UK Coach Billy Gillispie painted an optimistic picture in talking about the recent surgeries for Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks.

Each is recovering nicely, the UK coach said. Gillispie even joked that doctors over-state the time needed for recovery to look good when the player returns to action sooner than expected.

Doctors performed a “fantastic” surgery on Meeks, who is expected to return within 10 weeks. “They’re hoping for a shorter recovery time than they thought,” Gillispie said.

As for Patterson, “everything went great” on the surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left ankle, the UK coach said.

Judging from the pre-game warmups, it did not appear that sophomore guard Jodie Meeks would play for Kentucky against Marquette on Thursday.

Meeks, like freshman Patrick Patterson, had warmup pants on as teammates (all in game shorts) took shots.

Meeks contributed by feeding passes to Derrick Jasper, who took perimeter jumpers. Patterson shagged rebounds.

Meeks, who has played only 11 games this season, had hoped to rehabilitate a groin injury in time to play in the NCAA Tournament.

Watching Jodie Meeks in the public workout on Wednesday:

Meeks stands out in terms of attire. He’s the only player wearing a long-sleeve blue shirt. Other players are wearing a jersey topwith or without an undershirt.

Don’t know if that means anything, but it fuels the impression that he won’t play against Marquette on Thursday. UK Coach Billy Gillispie said Meeks was “very, very doubtful.”

Jodie Meeks  shot some during Kentucky’s public practice on Wednesday. He did not run with his teammates as part of the pre-workout warmup.

When asked if Meeks could play against Marquette on Thursday, UK Coach Billy Gillispie said, “I would say he is very, very doubtful.. ..

” He’s moving around better than he has been in a long time. Does that mean he’s going to be able to play? He’s been a long ways away from being able to play. So I would doubt he’s going to be able to do anything.”

As for UK’s other notable injury, freshman Patrick Patterson said a decision has not been made on whether to underdo surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left ankle. He and his family want to speak with “three or four more doctors” before deciding whether surgery or rest can return him to full health, Patterson said.