St. John’s Branch Has MCL Sprain

St. John’s sophomore guard Jamal Branch was diagnosed with an MCL sprain in his left knee Monday after he was examined by Dr. Osric King, the school announced.

The 6-foot-3 Branch injured the knee in Saturday’s loss 68-56 loss at Georgetown.

An MRI will take place Tuesday.

Branch is undergoing physical therapy and his status for Wednesday’s game against UConn is uncertain.

“Because we’re so young, we need to be as close to full strength as we can be,” St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said Saturday, according to ESPNNewYork.com. “We hope he’s gonna be OK. We don’t have enough information at this point from the trainers and the doctors, other than the sprained knee.”

Written by Adam Zagoria

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Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.