Urgent Update – Injuries Mounting in MVC

(St. Louis, MO) – A disturbing trend is emerging prior to the beginning of the college basketball season. Key Missouri Valley Conference players have been going down with injuries.

Two More Redbirds Go on DL

Illinois State was dealt two more damaging blows. Jim Benson tells us 7′ center Daouda Ndiaye and sophomore guard Matt Hein both went down this week. Ndiaye sustained a stress fracture in his right foot and Hein a bone bruise in his knee. Ndiaye is expected to miss six weeks. Go to The Pantagraph for the full story.

The injury that has caused the most stir was the knee problem for preseason ‘Player of the Year‘ Alize Johnson. The Missouri State forward has been out four weeks with a ligament problem that head coach Paul Lusk says should be cleared up by the team’s opener or shortly there after.

Johnson told me he hurt his knee dunking the basketball in practice.

 

 

Illinois State is very high of freshman Elijah Clarence, but he is out too. The 6’4 guard is out with a stress fracture in his left foot, and head coach Dan Muller says we won’t see how good the native of Malmo, Sweden is until much later in the season.

 

 

Southern Illinois’ Barry Hinson has been expecting point guard Marcus Bartley to contend for an all conference spot.

 

 

But now he too has gone down with a broken bone in his right (shooting) wrist and won’t be available for six to eight weeks.

Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson was telling us how important it was to have Wyatt Lohaus back in the line up, but … he won’t be. He has knee and toe problems with which to deal. Here is Jacobson talking about the value of the 6’2 junior’s return to the lineup.

 

 

Since that interview, Lohaus had a bit of a set back and is ‘day-to-day’ with those recent injuries.

For a league desperate for non-conference wins to prove their worth for possible post season tournament bids, these absences could be critical.

Do Good