STARKVILLE — Mississippi State first-year men’s basketball head coach Ben Howland said Thursday freshman Joe Strugg will be out least two months.
“We found out this morning that Joe Strugg has long-term issues with the bones in his shins,” Howland said.
Howland also said Louisiana Tech transfer Xavian Stapleton had anterior cruciate ligament surgery Wednesday. Stapleton will miss about eight months. He already had to sit out this season due to the NCAA transfer rule.
“They took a piece of his hamstring to use as a new ligament for his ACL,” Howland said.
Senior guard Craig Sword had back surgery before last season started and Howland said he had a second surgery in the spring, but is feeling better than ever. Senior forward Travis Daniels had sports hernia surgery in May.
Fallou Ndoye underwent surgery on his right wrist earlier this summer and he will be available at the end of October.
n In related news, MSU will hold a tryout for a walk-on position at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, in the Mize Pavilion. All interested students must submit their name, MSU ID and date of birth to Donovan Castro by email at [email protected] by noon Monday, Sept. 21.
After eligibility has been determined by MSU athletic compliance office, those eligible to tryout will be required to go to the compliance office on the second floor of Humphrey Coliseum between 2-4 p.m. Sept. 22 or between 10 a.m. and noon Sept. 23 to pick up a tryout checklist.
Prior to the tryout, proof of insurance also must be submitted to Tammy Yeatman at [email protected], while a medical physical that’s no more than a year old needs to be provided to Mary McLendon at [email protected].
Participants won’t be allowed to tryout if both documents aren’t submitted. Yeatman and McLendon are located at the Holliman Athletics Training Room.
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