Ari Boya out for 10-12 weeks with ankle injury

[Da Coach]

7'1" Freshman center Ari Boya suffered a severe ankle injury and will be out for 10-12 weeks. It happened in a scrimmage during a team practice yesterday (Wednesday, 10/10). It is not being described as a fracture, no surgery is being considered, and there is no plan to redshirt Ari. Let's hope for a fast recovery.

[Da Coach]

From Bradley men's basketball, with a quote from Coach Wardle-

https://twitter.com/bradleyumbb/status/1050491400905732097

[Mikovio]

12 weeks would be the Valley opener vs UNI. The noncon isn't that strong. I guess it could be worse?

[Da Coach]

Yes, as you point out, if this injury causes Ari to miss the next 10-12 weeks, that would mean the rest of the preseason, plus the entire non-conference schedule. The earliest he would return according to that time frame would be the start of the MVC conference schedule in early January (Jan 2 against UNI), and even then it's likely he would take a while to get back into shape. Of all our new players, I think Ari is the one who needs the early season games to get into shape for the MVC games.
If that is the case, then IMO it might be better for him to redshirt this season, and come back 100% next season. He is an important part of Bradley's future, and I'd hate to see him use up his first year of eligibility trying to come back from a serious ankle injury, and not really helping the team as much as he is capable.

[tornado]

Yes, as you point out, if this injury causes Ari to miss the next 10-12 weeks, that would mean the rest of the preseason, plus the entire non-conference schedule. The earliest he would return according to that time frame would be the start of the MVC conference schedule in early January (Jan 2 against UNI), and even then it's likely he would take a while to get back into shape. Of all our new players, I think Ari is the one who needs the early season games to get into shape for the MVC games.
If that is the case, then IMO it might be better for him to redshirt this season, and come back 100% next season. He is an important part of Bradley's future, and I'd hate to see him use up his first year of eligibility trying to come back from a serious ankle injury, and not really helping the team as much as he is capable.

but seriously, the chance of us getting an at large bid is minimal....what we really need is to have him & be 100% for the Valley season, stretch run and post-season -
..not many ankle injuries that take 3 months to heal - but thankfully it is rare that an ankle injury is threatening to a career.

[Mikovio]

I strongly disagree about redshirting. We need to finish as high in the MVC as possible and secure the best seed for St Louis. If he's available for even 2/3 of the Valley season and can be 100% by tournament time you take it.

[Big Mike]

Wow....this is a bummer, and really makes the Braves thin at center, maybe he will heal quicker than the 10-12 weeks?

[Dub]

Bad deal, boys. I am very surprised they??™d put that long of a time on it... it must be really bad. I know that in the bad ones that there can be a lingering weakness in the ankle that limit you, and in this program you go 100% or you don??™t go. I hope they don??™t shut him down, but I would not be surprised. Dang it!

[Dub]

Wardle was just interviewed on 1470 with Greg and Dan. He called the injury a "simple fracture" that happened just by landing on his own (i.e. didn't land on someone's foot).

This explains the long recovery time. Sounds like Van Bree is still out as well.

[bradleyfan124]

Wow!!!! This seems to happen at Bradley a lot or maybe we just notice it more. An injury to a key player.. I am trying to think of some and the only ones I can think of off hand are Bruce Mordini and Pierre Cooper. Bummer!! There goes my prediction of first place for Bradley. Now I have to go along with everyone else, 4th place

[ihatetea]

Makes the transfer of Barker and giving his scholarship to Hanley a more important development. We are thin on bigs. If we could have at least have filled that spot with a grad transfer it would have helped cushion against this loss. Guess we??™re going to have to play small and fast this year.

[houstonbrave]

This really hurts. He was the newcomer I thought could really help this year. They obviously don??™t need to make the redshirt decision now. I??™d love to have him for the valley season but coning back that late in the season for a true freshman is really difficult.

[mvcfan]

This is no good for all involved. Hope he heals quick. This really hurts the depth of the team and will force some guys to play out of position.

[Chico]

Wardle was just interviewed on 1470 with Greg and Dan. He called the injury a "simple fracture" that happened just by landing on his own (i.e. didn't land on someone's foot).

This explains the long recovery time. Sounds like Van Bree is still out as well.

Dan D does a great job interviewing.

[BUSongwriter]

That giant sucking sound you hear (how many remember Ross Perot?) is a lot of the air of excitement about this season leaving Carver Arena.

A lot, but not all. We're still a veteran, talented, well-coached team. But I think we all were super excited about what Ari could add. I thought he could be a difference maker in helping us to win games we weren't expected to win -- something that has to happen for the Braves to take the next step.

Donte played a lot of the 5 last year and was such a workhorse. But you could tell it wore him out. I was really hoping Eli wouldn't have to do that this year and could operate on the wing.

This will make us a different team. But we've got the talent to step up, and return the air of excitement to Carver.