Verdell Jones suffers ankle injury

  • 10/24/2010 8:14 pm in

INDIANAPOLIS - MARCH 11: Guard Verdell Jones III #12 of the Indiana Hoosiers drives with the ball the Northwestern Wildcats during the first round of the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse on March 11, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)Tuesday, 8:00 AM Update by Alex Bozich: Tom Crean confirmed the ankle sprain on his Twitter account via this series of tweets: “Now we have to deal with different injuries. Verdell is suffering from a ankle sprain he got defending in our scrimmage work this past Saturday. He was playing at the highest level he has been at with us when it happened. Injuries are a part of the game and right now we have way too many assistant coaches because of it. It is no fun for any of us.”

Monday, 9:30 AM Update by Alex Bozich: An ITH reader has reported on Twitter that Jones has been spotted on campus today wearing a boot on his right foot, but is not on crutches.

Inside the Hall has learned that Verdell Jones has suffered an ankle injury, the extent of which is unknown, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The source did not indicate which ankle.

There is no word, as yet, what kind of time recovery would be expected to take, because the severity of the injury has yet to be determined.

There had been some message board chatter about Jones being spotted on crutches, and this would be why. It goes without saying that this hurts Indiana in guard depth, particularly given that Maurice Creek is not yet 100 percent recovered from a knee injury sustained last December.

Creek, who did not take part in the team scrimmage at Hoosier Hysteria, and Jones represent quite possibly Indiana’s two most dangerous scoring threats, and they were mentioned by Tom Crean as likely candidates for point guard/ball handling duty back in August.

Working in Indiana’s favor is its considerable options left at guard, but the problem with depth comes in the sense that some of those (Victor Oladipo, Will Sheehey) are untested freshmen. Should Jones miss any length of time, it stands to reason Jeremiah Rivers would see more time at the point alongside Jordan Hulls. Oladipo and Sheehey would be needed direly at that wing spot, however.

It also bears mentioning that Derek Elston, Tom Pritchard and Co. would alleviate some stress if they can provide a strong, consistent front court. That would free Christian Watford to spend the bulk of his time at the small forward position — where he was expected to see much of his time this year anyway — and help neutralize the problem of guard depth even further.

Again, no word yet on the extent of the injury. Ankles can be tricky things, but they can also heal quickly. Once we know more, obviously, we’ll make sure you do too.

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