Tar Heel Fan

UPDATE #2: More information via ESPN which casts a brighter picture.

“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 school issued a statement saying there is no timetable for his return and no further information on the injury was available. Coach Roy Williams said he would have no comment until Friday after he meets with Hansbrough and the medical staff.

“I expect he’ll be healthy and play [this season],” Gene Hansbrough said. “It’s still to early to tell. They don’t even have an exhibition for a week.”

Hansbrough played in all 108 games during his previous three seasons at North Carolina, and has two weeks to heal before the Nov. 15 season opener against Pennsylvania if he is to keep that streak intact.

“He understands the big picture,” Gene Hansbrough said. “He knows he has to get well and be 100 percent to help the team.”

Gene Hansbrough told Katz that Tyler’s shin started to bother him a couple of weeks ago. “But it got worse. It doesn’t hurt when he walks on it. I just hope he recovers soon,” Gene Hansbrough said.

Jay Bilas was at UNC’s practice in indicated it was more precautionary than anything else and Hansbrough should recover as quickly as a week or maybe longer.  Bilas said he did not think it would be a long term issue and even saw it as an opportunity for other players, such as Deon Thompson, to step up in practice and get better.

Original post and updates after the jump

Continue reading ‘Tar Heel Nation Holds Its Breath[UPDATED]‘

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UNC confirmed today that Marcus Ginyard had surgery to insert a screw into his left foot to repair a stress fracture.

Continue reading ‘CONFIRMED: Ginyard Out Eight Weeks’

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