South Dakota State’s run to to a sixth NCAA Tournameny berth in nine years hinges at least partly on the right foot of forward and possible Summit League Player of the Year Douglas Wilson.
SDSU coach Eric Henderson told KWSN via text on Tuesday night that the foot is “day to day” after the junior had an MRI scan on Monday in Sioux Falls. On Sunday the team’s leading scorer and best defender hurt the foot in a non-contact play with two minutes left in the Jacks’ 85-80 win on Sunday over USD.
The Jackrabbits (22-8, 13-2) play at North Dakota State in their regular season finale on Thursday in Fargo. SDSU has clinched at least a share of the conference regular season title, but the Bison (11-3 in Summit) still have a chance to share the crown with a win over SDSU, followed by a win over Omaha on Saturday. With those two wins, NDSU could also notch the No. 1 seed in the Summit tourney (depending on who finishes third place) and automatic NIT berth should the Bison not win the tourney in Sioux Falls.
SDSU would win the league title outright and gain the No. 1 seed and NIT berth with a win on Thursday at NDSU, so it is no wonder why Henderson would not disclose the specifics of Wilson’s injury nor the MRI and his status vs NDSU. On Monday, he told KWSN Wilson was walking better than on Sunday, when he couldn’t walk at all, and that he was “optimistic” about the health of Wilson’s foot and rest of the season prospects.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Henderson said on Monday. “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.”
The Jacks will have eight days off between Thursday and their March 7 quarterfinal game in the Summit League tournament, where they have clinched at least a No. 2 seed and therefore a day off between that Saturday and Monday’s semifinals.
Click here to hear Henderson’s full interview with KWSN
The 6’7 forward, who 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 needed the aid of 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.
Henderson said Wilson had experienced tendonitis in the same foot throughout over the course of last 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.
