The two biggest reasons that Duke is once again considered a Final Four threat and a favorite to win a very strong ACC are incoming freshman Jabari Parker and rising sophomore Rasheed Sulaimon.
But two players won’t be enough to get the Blue Devils all that far in a season that many believe is as strong talent-wise as any in recent memory.
Enter Rodney Hood. The 6-foot-8 small forward was once a five-star recruit coming out of high school and averaged 10.3 points and 4.8 boards as a freshman on Mississippi State before transferring to Duke. He sat out all of 2012-2013 as a redshirt and was expected to have a huge year with the Blue Devils.
And hopefully, his Achilles’ won’t get in the way of that.
At the tryouts for the World University Games, Hood injured the Achilles’ in his right foot. The seriousness of the injury is not known, but most seem to be cautiously optimistic. Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com is reporting that Hood’s injury was not in the same realm as the Achilles’ injury that sidelined Kobe Bryant, meaning that it’s not obvious he ruptured the tendon. Andy Glockner of SI.com was at the trials last night and spoke to Hood afterwards. He wrote that Hood “left the gym on crutches as a precautionary measure” but that he “didn’t seem to be in any great distress”.
We’ll update this story when more information is known.
You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.