Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum undergoes successful surgery on fractured foot, will miss 8-10 weeks

CJ McCollum

Lehigh senior guard C.J. McCollum has undergone successful surgery to repair a fractured bone in his left foot and will need between eight and 10 weeks to recover, the school announced Tuesday afternoon.

McCollum was injured Saturday on a drive to the basket with 5:37 remaining in the first half against Virginia Commonwealth. He was sent to the locker room and, upon his return, was seen telling a teammate on the Lehigh bench that he believed he had broken his foot.

“I’d like to thank everyone who’s wished me well, including my teammates, the coaching staff and all the fans throughout the world who reached out to me through Twitter and social media,” McCollum said in a statement from the school. “I’m looking forward to treatment and recovery, and then coming back stronger than I left.”

McCollum returned to Lehigh for his senior season after leading the Mountain Hawks to an NCAA tournament upset of No. 2-seeded Duke in the Round of 64 in 2012. Through 12 games this season, McCollum had been averaging 23.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

With this 8-to-10-week timeline set, McCollum should be able to return sometime between March 5 and March 19.

Lehigh plays its final regular-season game of the year on March 2 against Army. The Patriot League tournament begins with the quarterfinal round on March 6, leading to the semifinal round March 9, and the tournament championship game on March 13.

The NCAA tournament’s Selection Sunday takes place March 17.

Prior to his injury, many draft analysts expected the 6-3 guard to be chosen in the lottery or just outside of the lottery in the 2013 NBA draft. It is unclear how or if McCollum’s injury will affect his draft stock.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_