Louisville senior forward Terrence Williams tore his right meniscus in a pickup game and will be out for four to six weeks.
Williams (at right in picture) and the Cardinals are fortunate it wasn’t a full ACL tear.
“I’m ecstatic that it’s not an (anterior cruciate ligament) tear as was first feared,” Cardinals coach Rick Pitino said. “He’ll be out only a short period of time, and we know he’ll come back as good as new. We’re totally relieved.”
Williams averaged 11.1 points last season, with 4.5 assists and 7.2 rebounds. He had two triple-doubles as a junior. He is 48th in career scoring at Louisville with 1,102 points.
Meantime, Pitino said at a tipoff luncheon that he was extremely optimistic about this year’s team, which features Williams, senior guard Andre McGee, junior forward Earl Clark and junior guard Jerry Smith from last season’s Elite Eight team that finished 27-9. The Cardinals also bring in 6-9 freshmen Samardo Samuels, the former St. Benedict’s Prep star and McDonald’s All-American, and Terrence Jennings of Seattle.
Pitino openly compared this year’s team to the 2005 Final Four team.
“The 2005 team was a great passing team, shooting team, and they understood how to play the game,” he said, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. “So any time you have two freshmen that are going to play as significant (minutes) as the two centers, there are still some question marks.”
(Photo courtesy Louisville Courier-Journal)
