The college basketball season is two weeks old, and already, some season-ending injuries have been suffered across the nation. Other players have been injured to the point that they haven’t yet taken the court this season. Other injuries exist below those two extremes. All of them matter for the teams affected by these occurrences. Here are four of the biggest injuries in the land.
Marques Bolden, Duke
Of the four injuries, this falls into the category of an injury which isn’t season-ending, but has prevented a player from taking the court so far. Bolden is the new big man who is supposed to anchor the Blue Devils in the paint at both ends of the court. Duke has had to play smaller, faster, more positionless lineups in Bolden’s absence. Many people feel that when Duke does get all of its pieces together, the Blue Devils are going to be nearly unstoppable. Of the pieces Duke hasn’t been able to put on court yet, Bolden tops the list, with Harry Giles not very far behind.
Terry Larrier, Connecticut
The Huskies had problems in their first two games, even when Larrier was playing and playing well. They just didn’t have much of any help. Now that Larrier, a guard, is out for the season, the Huskies are dangerously limited right now. They basically have a rotation of only six players. The backcourt is going to be worn down, and Connecticut – a team which initially anticipated playing at a very fast pace – will probably have to play at a slower tempo than it ever wanted. Jalen Adams is an excellent offensive player, but he will need second and third teammates to help him out. If defenses take Adams away from Connecticut, the Huskies might not have a second valid option.
It’s been a tumultuous start to the season for the Huskies, who are shockingly now 2-4. Losing to No. 13 Oregon as they did on Wednesday is somewhat understandable – especially on a neutral site – but they have also lost to Oklahoma State (by 18 points) and lost to Northeastern and Wagner. The latter two losses are simply unacceptable. Those two teams are among the weakest in college basketball and that has to be a concern for Kevin Ollie and company.
Kendall Pollard, Dayton
The Flyers are finding out just how much they need Pollard to be in the lineup. His loss has been one of the key injuries early on this season. They are struggling in general, and they lacked a vibrant defensive presence on Thursday night in the first round of the Wooden Legacy Tournament in Fullerton, California. They lost to Nebraska, 80-78. The Cornhuskers missed the NCAA Tournament last season and possess a level of quality which is very much up for debate. Dayton has created an identity as a consistent NCAA Tournament team. It’s a long season with a lot of work and development to emerge in the coming weeks and months, but Pollard is definitely leaving behind a void which must be addressed sooner rather than later. Otherwise, Dayton might take too many hits on its resume to make March Madness.
Quinndary Weatherspoon, Mississippi State
The Bulldogs are trying to evolve under second-year head coach Ben Howland, who made three straight Final Fours roughly a decade ago at UCLA. Weatherspoon, a sophomore, needed to carry the program this year while high-impact freshmen learned the system, grew into the offense, and then gradually assumed more of a leadership role on the team in January and February. Weatherspoon definitely had to produce for Mississippi State in November and December, but now that he’s out for the season with an injury, the Bulldogs’ youngsters have to shoulder the whole load. That’s going to make it extremely hard for MSU to accomplish what it wants to this year.
So far this season, Mississippi State hasn’t had too many problems, although they are 3-1 and probably would like to be 4-0. They started the college basketball season wit ha win over Norfolk State but then fell to Central Florida on a neutral site. UCF isn’t exactly a college basketball powerhouse, so this loss is a bit disappointing. However, they did bounce back to beat Boise State and UTEP in their latest two contests. They’ll play host to Lehigh on Friday night.
