Boston University men’s basketball junior guard Corey Lowe sustained a slight stress fracture in his left knee during a pickup basketball game last Thursday.
BU coach Dennis Wolff, entering his 15th season at the helm, said Lowe will walk with crutches as a precautionary measure for 3-4 weeks before working his way back into full-speed action. The team’s first day of practice, as regulated by the NCAA, is Oct. 17, and Lowe expects to be ready to go by then.
Lowe, who led the team with 18.1 points per game last season, was jumping to block a shot when his body got tangled in midair with another player. When he landed, his foot got caught awkwardly and his body twisted away from his knee, causing the fracture.
‘It more scared me than hurt me because whenever basketball players fall or twist their knee or something, it’s never a good thing, so I got pretty lucky,’ Lowe said.
The Newton, Mass., native had an MRI on Thursday to assess the damage, which, to the relief of Wolff, is minimal.
‘It’s somewhat of a tough break, but on the scale of things, it’s at the very low end of something to be concerned about,’ Wolff said.
Despite exceptional numbers (career average of 16.1 ppg), Lowe has never played a full season since entering BU. He missed three games last January because of bursitis in the same knee, and didn’t play in four games his freshman year because of a foot injury.
‘This left knee, I don’t know what the deal is. It just won’t stay 100 percent,’ Lowe said. ‘I feel like all the injuries I’ve gotten have been pretty strange injuries that a lot of people don’t get.
‘At least I can get this out of the way now, hope that nothing goes wrong during the season, and I can actually play the whole season.’
Redshirt junior Tyler Morris sustained a stress fracture compounded by shin splints last season, and Wolff said Lowe’s injury is ‘not even close’ to Morris’ in terms of severity.
A week prior to Lowe’s injury, Wolff said he was excited to have a healthy roster in September for the first time in more than three years. While that statement no longer holds true, Wolff is not overly worried about the current situation.
‘Corey’s in great shape. This isn’t like he’ll fall out of condition or anything like that,’ Wolff said. ‘He was in significantly less pain [yesterday] and if he just stays with it and stays off his feet, it will heal itself.’