SIOUX FALLS – The fate of South Dakota State star forward Douglas Wilson, and no doubt the entire Jackrabbits team itself, hangs in the balance of this afternoon’s MRI scan on Wilson’s right foot.
The team’s leading scorer hurt the foot in a non-contact play with two minutes left in the Jacks’ 85-80 win on Sunday over USD.
SDSU clinched at least a share of its third consecutive Summit League regular season title with the win and can claim an outright championship with a victory at second place North Dakota State in the Jacks’ regular season finale on Thursday in Fargo.
Whether Wilson will be a part of that, or SDSU’s games in the Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls starting in 11 days on March 7, won’t be known until later Monday evening at the earliest.
Wilson, a 6’7 forward who Monday was named the Summit League Player of the Week and scored 20 points on Sunday, was defending a Coyote drive when he fell to the floor, buckled, and winced while on his back, grabbing his right leg.
After play was stopped for a couple minutes, Wilson need ed the aid of coach Eric Henderson and an SDSU staffer to stand up, then draped his arms over both men as they helped him to the bench, his right foot suspended a couple inches in the air.
Several minutes later, after the game was over, Wilson, still unable to walk, used the aid of a teammate to make his way to the locker room.
On Monday while driving to Sioux Falls to join Wilson for the MRI, Henderson told KWSN that Wilson was walking much better than Sunday and he is “optimistic” about the results.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Henderson said. “Obviously, it’s really sore, but before we get those results, it’s really hard to speculate. We’re certainly hopeful that he plays Thursday, but time will tell.”
To hear Henderson’s full interview with KWSN, click here
Henderson said Wilson had experienced tendonitis in the same foot throughout this past week, and the junior college transfer from Des Moines was obviously not running at full speed throughout Sunday’s game.
But the coach said the latest injury is not related to another ailment from a month ago, when a sore area behind his knee kept him out of a 99-84 loss at USD on Jan. 19.
“Hopefully (this injury) isn’t from overcompensating (on that same right leg) or anything like that, but we’ll leave that to the professional doctors.”
The USD loss was the only game Wilson had missed this season. He started the other 29, including Sunday. Henderson said that if Wilson can’t go, the coach needs to do a better job of figuring out how to play without him.
“We’ve got guys who are willing to step up,” Henderson said. One of Doug’s best qualities is his versatility, so we’ll certainly miss that aspect if he doesn’t play or if he isn’t 100 percent.
“The first time we played (USD) without Doug, we tried to change up so much, and I felt that was on me putting our guys in a bad situation. Now, I’m not saying we would have won the game with or without Doug, but I think it’s really important for our young team to be just who we are.
“Let’s not think too much about who is on the floor, but let’s concentrate on what we do really well and go from there.”
SDSU beat NDSU 78-73 when the teams met in Brookings on Jan. 22. Wilson scored 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting in his 27 minutes that night.
