Brandon Johnson Out For The Season With Torn ACL

This was supposed to be a huge year for Bill Grier and the San Diego Toreros.

We all know what his team did last season, marching into Rupp Arena and knocking off Kentucky as a prelude to their stunning upset of Connecticut in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. With all five starters returning, most believed San Diego could contend with Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s for the WCC title.

Grier received news today that his leading scorer and four year starter, guard Brandon Johnson, will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Couple that with a disappointing beginning to the season and various other team injuries and suspensions, and you have a San Diego squad that went from contender to middle-of-the-pack WCC team in a matter of weeks. Johnson was averaging 13.5 PPG and 3.9 APG for San Diego, including 19 vs. Wisconsin in the Virgin Islands. He averaged 16.9 PPG a season ago.

Already Grier has dealt with distractions in the early going. He suspended three players for their opening loss at UNLV, Clinton Houston missed six games, Gyno Pomare missed one and emerging sophomore guard Trumaine Johnson remains suspended, although he could return for San Diego’s next game. De’Jon Jackson, a solid contributor and top defender, also has a knee injury and has been out as of late.

San Diego is off to a disappointing 4-4 start with wins over Nevada and Valparaiso but losses to Miami, Wisconsin, UNLV and San Diego State. Their primary chances for impressive resume-building wins are gone, although they do play Mississippi State, Oregon and New Mexico in December. Those teams will likely not be NCAA Tournament bound, meaning the Toreros will have to win the WCC regular season or tournament, quite a daunting task without Brandon Johnson.

A promising year for San Diego is looking like a real struggle.

Tyler Hansbrough Out Indefinitely

Put those undefeated talks on hold. On the same day North Carolina was rewarded with a unanimous number one ranking by the coaches, the best player in college basketball and most celebrated Tar Heel in years- Tyler Hansbrough- discovered he has a stress reaction in his left shin and is out indefinitely.

He joins Marcus Ginyard and Ed Davis as players hurting right now for coach Roy Williams. But this Hansbrough injury trumps any that may occur in college basketball this season if it turns out to be majorly serious. The Heels are partially relieved because they caught the injury before it became a stress fracture, which probably would have ended his season. Williams will address the problem in a press conference Friday.

It’s hard to tell how long North Carolina could be without their preseason All-American. The best medicine for this type of injury is rest and more rest, and UNC has already released a statement saying Hansbrough will be “out for a while.” Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports estimates he might not see the court until mid-December. It’s really unpredictable at this point.

True college basketball fans have to feel sad for the senior forward. Here’s a player who is ultra passionate about basketball and his team, one of those rare gems that stays in college for all four years. It would have been exciting to see this loaded North Carolina team at full strength for the entire season. Now they could very well be without Hansbrough for a Maui Invitational with Texas and Notre Dame (who is going to contain Harangody now? Deon Thompson?) as well as a Ford Field battle with Michigan State. It’s still too early to tell, though.

Hansbrough averaged 22.6 PPG and 10.2 RPG for the Final Four Tar Heels last season. He won National Player of the Year in his junior season and is the favorite to defend that honor this year. The Tar Heels open November 15 against Penn at home.

Gene Hansbrough, Tyler’s father: “He’ll be OK. 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.”

“I just hope he recovers soon.”

So do the Chapel Hill faithful.