When the Georgia Bulldogs open their basketball season on Friday night against Mississippi Valley State they will do so without Preseason SEC player of the year Trey Thompkins, who is still recovering from a high ankle sprain.
Mark Fox comments on the injury:
"He’s a long way away from playing. I know that.”
That could be particularly worrisome for a Georgia team that was hoping to take the next step this season. Thompkins injured the ankle during a scrimmage on Oct. 30 and has been sidelined ever since. He sat out Georgia's 85-48 exhibition win over Augusta State. Now it appears that he is out for the season opener and may not be ready when the Dawgs take the court again on Tuesday against Colorado.
“He’s been living in the training room,” coach Mark Fox said Tuesday. “It’s still swollen. He’s able to walk on it, I think, but it’s still in a protective boot. We’ll keep aggressively treating him and re-evaluating him every couple of days.”
As our own Tim Altork points out, the Dawgs aren't just a one-man show this year, so this is hardly the end of the world. Between Jeremy Price, Marcus Thornton, Donte Williams, and Chris Barnes, the front court should hold up well enough to keep Georgia's early season record in shape. Even in Fox's worst-case scenario, Thompkins would only miss six games, and only two would be against teams that made last year's NCAA Tournament -- the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
And even if he comes back rusty, the SEC schedule doesn't tip off until Jan. 8. This won't have anywhere near the impact on Georgia's hoops season that A.J. Green's suspension had on the football team's. See how hard I just jinxed Georgia basketball? I apologize.
