Georgia is headed into their second season under head coach Mark Fox with fairly lofty expectations.
The Bulldogs bring back much of their roster from last season, and while the wins over Illinois, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Florida put this squad on the nation’s radar, this is still a group that won just 14 games last season. No one is predicting an SEC title, but an NCAA Tournament berth would not come as a surprise.
That is, however, is potential SEC player of the year Trey Thompkins is able to get healthy. From Jeff Goodman’s blog:
Thompkins suffered a high right ankle sprain early in a closed scrimmage and missed Thursday’s exhibition game.
“It’s still pretty swollen,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “It’s highly unlikely he’ll play against Mississippi Valley State and he may miss significant time.”
They also take more time to heal. Depending on the severity of the sprain, they have been known to keep player sidelined for over a month. That could end up being disastrous news for the Bulldogs. They have a pretty tough non-conference schedule, including games against Colorado, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech.
Thompkins is far from the only player dealing with injuries:
- UCLA freshman Joshua Smith sprained his thumb in an exhibition game on Friday. He is listed as day-to-day.
- St. Peter’s senior star Wesley Jenkins will be able to play this season. He suffered an injury to his knee that was initially believed to be a torn acl. But once the MRI results came back, it was revealed that Jenkins had only partially torn his acl. He should be back sometime in the next month.
- Utah State’s Nate Bendall is still dealing with his foot issues, while Wendell McKines of New Mexico State will likely miss the entire first semester.
- Not exactly an injury, but Marshall loses even more of their front court depth as back up forward Antonio Haymon has been kicked off the team following a second arrest.