More injury news

[tornado]

SIU's Eric McGill "hurt a bone in his left hand" Sunday and is out indefinitely.
He is averaging 20 minutes per game, 5 ppg, but one of their better 3-pt shooters and leads the team in steals.

Coach Barry Hinson declined to say more and would not say if there was a fracture but did say...
"He left the court holding his hand, and X-rays showed bad news, Hinson said,
but he stopped short of saying McGill had a fracture or break"
"his hand had swollen to the size of a grapefruit.
... is out indefinitely. ...he's not going to play for quite some time."

I wonder what the x-rays showed if not a fracture...

[tornado]

two weeks after SIU's Eric McGill hurt his hand...(it was "swollen the size of a grapefruit")...
suggesting a fracture...
he still has not played and there'd been no further word...until Sunday.....

McGill had an MRI over the weekend and now they believe McGill has a broken bone in his hand...
This will create a dilemma - since it may take possibly til February before he can recover from a fracture - so redshirting him might be an option....they will have to make a decision whether to try to bring him back.

BUT they just made the decision Sunday to redshirt Thik Bol (not a medical redshirt - just a regular redshirt since he hasn't played this year)- and potentially use their final open scholarship for 2018 despite a few offers still out and the spring recruiting period coming up.

[YATittle]

Southern Illinois was really good not all that long ago.....remember Jamaal Tatum and Randall Falket? They won 29 games and had two wins in the NCAA tournament. Their program has really fallen on hard times. Sad for them and sad for the Valley.

[tornado]

they've relied heavily on juco kids & transfers under Hinson...Seck, Early, Lindsey, Rodriguez, Vincent, Bol. Pippen, Jackson, Bartley...
even if those guys are ok & develop- they're gone in 2 years then you gotta rebuild...
Can't see why there are Bradley fans chanting the mantra that we ought to be doing the same and going for more juco kids...it sure ain't working for Barry

[tornado]

SIU beat writer again says Eric McGill might be out for the season and that Wiley & Fletcher are both troubled by knee problems
Meanwhile Sean Lloyd will have to play with a face mask due to a broken nose.

http://thesouthern.com/sports/sports-column-les-winkeler-siu-injuries-reveal-another-side-of/article_3eb2b16e-18c8-5ebd-8a5d-cea73a1f9388.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest

does anyone remember when Sam Singh had to play with a mask because of a broken nose in the game against SEMO in 2008?
After missing two games, he returned and had two of the best games of his career wearing the mask!
8 pts/5 rebs/5 steals - LINK
..and then his best game - 10 pts/5 rebs and hit the game winner at the buzzer vs. Wichita - LINK

[Da Coach]

Sam played so well with the mask that even when the doctors told him he could play without it, he preferred to keep wearing it!

[tornado]

more injury news at SIU
part time starter Jonathan Wiley (7.2 ppg/4.8 rpg) hurt his knee Sunday - he is done for the season- torn ACL & MCL

Barry trying to add a walk-on or two

http://thesouthern.com/sports/college/basketball/mens/siu-basketball-hinson-looks-to-add-walk-on-football-player/article_d07dd440-a235-5e9f-8d46-45c25c8324b7.html

[tornado]

one more note - relevant since we go to Evansville next...

last night even tho he was expected to play - Evansville Guard Duane "Boo" Gibson was a late scratch and sat out due to a flare up in his knee.
He has struggled for 3 years with knee problems that have required 3 surgeries

He played well against ISU 10 days ago then struggled and was scoreless last week against Loyola....and is now said to be day-to-day

[tornado]

more injury news at SIU
part time starter Jonathan Wiley (7.2 ppg/4.8 rpg) hurt his knee Sunday - he is done for the season- torn ACL & MCL..

Wiley has played in 15 games so he doesn't qualify for a medical waiver/redshirt - and this is his senior year (one at Texas State, one at juco Panola College, and this is his 2nd at SIU) - so his college career is likely done.

McGill does qualify as he has only appeared in 10 games. Thik Bol hasn't played at all this year so he can take a redshirt year without even applying to NCAA.


Yes, I do feel for Barry - but....I am endlessly reminded that......
in a short 3-4 year span after Bradley went to the Sweet 16 (in which our win totals declined and led to the coach being fired), we lost POB (for 2 seasons to the NBA), Ray Brown, Jeremy Crouch, Daniel Ruffin, Sam Singh (twice), Andrew Warren, Will Egolf (twice), Sam Maniscalco, Taylor Brown, and Dodie Dunson - almost ALL were season ending-losses or full, entire seasons missed, they were almost ALL starters, key players and ALL-CONFERENCE performers - and their losses hurt tremendously, and this list doesn't even count the multiple other players like Dyricus, Theron Wilson, Jordan Prosser and Will Franklin who we lost for shorter stretches....
I recall many times that we were scolded in the press and by hostile fans that "you can't use injuries as an excuse" and "he should have recruited more depth.."

but heck, coaches and media DO use injuries as excuses all the time - one school we've been talking about
just lost their 4th leading scorer for half a season and the entire sports world is melting down!

[tornado]

to counter roster shortages, Barry Hinson has added walk on John Gardner
who was a Tight End on the SIU football team
He is a senior and has completed his football eligibility - he played basketball in high school at Simeon alongside Kendrick Nunn and Jabari Parker

http://siusalukis.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=2849