Feb. 6, 2001
Columbia, Mo. - University of Missouri sophomore forward Kareem Rush will miss the remainder of the 2000-01 basketball season due to a thumb injury he suffered in last night's game at Oklahoma State, as announced today by Head Coach Quin Snyder.
Rush, a leading candidate for Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and All-American honors, injured his thumb with 1:50 left in the game, when he fell to the floor after being fouled on a drive to the basket. He stayed in the game, and hit 1-of-2 free throws while playing with the injury.
After examination this afternoon, it was determined that Rush suffered an avulsion fracture of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb. In layman's terms, when he fell to the floor, he tore ligaments in the thumb, and pulled off a small piece of bone at the ligament attachment at the base of the thumb.
Rush is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday morning in Columbia to repair the ligament, and will be in a cast for six to eight weeks. He will be able to attend tomorrow's game vs. Kansas State.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed that this happened," said Rush. "I'm disappointed that I can't be out there battling with my teammates, but I'll do my best to contribute in other ways, find other ways to help lead the team. I faced some adversity last year, and I really believe it made me a stronger person both on and off the court, and I intend to come back better than ever this time," he said.
Snyder said he expects his Tigers, 14-7 overall and 5-3 in Big 12 Conference play, to rally around this setback.
"Anytime a team loses someone who is such a central figure in its collective identity, you have to come together even more," he said. "We've always stressed that it's important to take setbacks as an opportunity to learn and get better, and we're going to attack this as just that - an opportunity for everyone to better themselves. Kareem is such a strong kid that he'll be just fine, and I know he'll do everything he can to continue to lead the team from his new vantage point," he said.
Rush, who was just named Big 12 Player of the Week after leading MU to a win last week over #3 Kansas, is currently the leading scorer in the Big 12 Conference - and ranks 11th in the NCAA - with a 21.9 per-game average. He scored 30 or more points four times this season, including 32 in MU's four-overtime win over then-#18 Iowa State on Jan. 13th.