AJ Lawson ‘out indefinitely’ with severe ankle injury, South Carolina announces
A.J. Lawson’s season isn’t done just yet.
South Carolina announced Thursday that the freshman guard has a severe low left ankle sprain and is out “indefinitely” and will miss at least two games, starting Saturday at Missouri and then at Texas A&M on Tuesday. Lawson’s set to be re-evaluated Monday.
Lawson, the Gamecocks’ star rookie, rolled his ankle in the second half of USC’s 68-62 loss to Alabama on Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena. He required help off the floor and into the locker room. He didn’t return to the game.
The injury happened after Lawson intercepted a Crimson Tide pass and sprinted toward the rim. His second step in the lane landed on the foot of Alabama forward Donta Hall, causing Lawson to go into obvious pain. Maik Kotsar and Chris Silva assisted Lawson as he hobbled off the court, putting no pressure on his left leg.
“My heart goes out to him because of how hard he’s worked to help us become a good basketball team,” Carolina coach Frank Martin said Thursday night on the Gamecock IMG Sports Network. “When he rolled his ankle, he was back in the tunnel. Before they took the tape off, they re-taped him and he was doing everything in his power to get himself checked back in. But it was just really hurting.
“And then when they eventually cut the original tape off, that (ankle) just exploded.”
It’s been an unfortunate year for the Gamecocks. Justin Minaya (knee), T.J. Moss (foot and ankle) and Jason Cudd (knee) are taking medical redshirts. Jermaine Couisnard (test score issue) hasn’t played. Evan Hinson left the team earlier this month to concentrate on football.
After Lawson left with 8:24 remaining, USC essentially had a rotation of six players to finish the Alabama game. Alanzo Frink, who rolled his ankle in Monday’s practice, only logged two first half minutes against the Crimson Tide.
Lawson is second on the team in scoring (13.9 points per game) and first in assists (3.0) and steals (1.1).
South Carolina (14-14, 9-6 SEC) has three games left in the regular season before the SEC Tournament begins March 13 in Nashville. The Gamecocks are currently in a four-way tie for fourth place in the league standings.
This story was originally published February 28, 2019 at 2:49 PM.
Andrew Ramspacher
The State