That's the bad news for North Carolina.
""He'll be ok," Hansbrough's father, Gene, told ESPN.com's Andy Katz. "His leg's been bothering him for a couple of weeks. It's a stress reaction and he needs to rest a bit. He just needs time to let it heal. There is no reason for him to limp through it."
According to ESPN medical analysist Dr. Michael Kaplan, the MRI likely showed increased uptake in tibia (leg bone) suggesting a stress reaction. An overload or overuse type phenomenon occurs with inflammation and, ultimately, fatigue failure with stress fracture. This is a precursor condition to stress fracture. A period of rest is mandatory for tissues to quiet down or worsening injury will result.
The brightside is that they are ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
ESPN/USA Today Poll |
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1. |
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4. UCLA 0-0 650 |
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5. Duke 0-0 578 |
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6. |
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7. |
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9. Notre Dame 0-0 525 |
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10. Purdue 0-0 465 |
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11. Gonzaga 0-0 437 |
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13. |
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14. |
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15. |
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16. |
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17. |
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18. |
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19. |
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20. Davidson 0-0 158 |
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21. USC 0-0 153 |
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23. |
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24. |
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25. Villanova 0-0 122 |
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Others Receiving Votes UNLV
60, Saint Mary's 59, Ohio State 54, Baylor 47, Xavier 27, Syracuse 23,
Texas A&M 19, LSU 19, Arizona 18, Virginia Tech 15, Brigham Young
13, West Virginia 10, Washington 8, Siena 8, Kentucky 7, Vanderbilt 7,
Oklahoma State 4, Clemson 2, Washington State 1. |
Now that is out of the way, we can show you this picture.
Tyler Hansbrough has been such a positive role model, it is a shame that his senior season will be affected by this injury. This is a young man that has played through a lot of pain and could have jumped to the pros, but came back to UNC for his senior season.
There might be a few people out there that don't root for UNC, that's okay, but everyone should hope that Tyler gets back to full strength as soon as safe for his career. He elevates the quality of play in the game and shows what a person can achieve if he puts his whole self into it.
Thanks Tyler for what you have done and I hope to see you on the court as soon as you are ready. -Ed