BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -LSU junior forward Tasmin Mitchell will undergo surgery later this week after X-rays on Monday determined a stress fracture in his left ankle, coach John Brady said.
“I’m kind of nervous,” Mitchell said after learning of the diagnosis. “I’ve never had surgery. But this is the best decision, to go ahead with the surgery and there is a good chance I will probably not be back this season. This is the best thing for the doctors to do. They will put a couple of screws in and close it up real fast.”
The surgery is tentatively scheduled for Thursday.
Mitchell started the first three games of the season, but was able to go play 6 minutes in the Tigers’ first-round loss to Oklahoma State at the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
“We are glad to now know the situation and that it will be a 6-to-8 week ordeal,” Brady said after practice in preparation for Wednesday’s game against Nicholls State.
“I feel bad for our team and I feel bad for Tasmin. We all know how hard he worked and he had gotten himself into the best shape of his career. We just have to control the things with this team that we can control. Tasmin was so important to what we had planned to do. That’s 15 to 16 points and eight or nine rebounds a game that we’ve got to pick up somewhere else.”
If Mitchell is unable to return this season, Brady said there should be no issue preventing him from getting a medical redshirt and returning to the team for the 2008-09 season with two years of eligibility remaining.
Mitchell averaged 7.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in 22 minutes in the three games. Last season he averaged 14.5 points and 11.4 rebounds in 2005-06, earning freshman All-SEC honors as the Tigers reached Final Four.
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