Nelson out for basketball season
The Utah State University men’s basketball team suffered an unexpected blow over the weekend.
Following a successful performance at Hoop Fest on Oct. 26, leading the team with 18 points, sophomore forward Spencer Nelson tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and suffered undetermined damage to his medial collateral ligament (MCL) at practice on Wednesday.
USU Head Coach Stew Morrill said Nelson will sit out the 2001-02 season.
“When it happened I knew it was serious,” Nelson said. “I heard a couple of pops in my knee and I was just yelling.”
Nelson was driving up the middle of the lane when his feet stopped and his body continued moving.
“Obviously losing [Nelson] for the season is a huge loss to our basketball team,” Morrill said. “He was looking at considerable playing time and from an experience standpoint, was one of a handful of players on this year’s team to have played Division I basketball.”
Nelson, 6’8″, 210 pounds, from Pocatello, Idaho, played all 28 games for the Aggies his freshman year.
He averaged 4.5 points a game prior to serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oklahoma.
“I started physical therapy today [Friday],” Nelson said. “Everything is going good. I’m just planning on working hard to try to get it back as soon as possible.”