Ryan Hilinski to have knee surgery, but USC calls report of torn ACL ‘erroneous’
Each week after South Carolina quarterback Ryan Hilinski took a hard hit to the knee against Georgia, he seemed to end games walking gingerly or outright limping. Each week, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said Hilinski was OK, or at least no more injured than the average football player late in the season.
Hilinski will undergo knee surgery this week to repair a “small tear of the lateral meniscus in his left knee,” the school announced Tuesday. A date for the procedure has not been set. USC’s statement Tuesday does not specify when the injury occurred, although Muschamp said he did sprain his knee against the Bulldogs.
The statement came out following a Columbia TV station report that Hilinski had a torn ACL and meniscus. USC’s statement called the report “completely erroneous.”
“He’s healthy,” Muschamp said following the Clemson game. “If he’s cleared to play, then he’s healthy. That’s the way I termed it through our medical people. He’s been fine. There’s no one 100% right now. That’s a part of playing college football, pro football, whatever level.”
The school expects Hilinski to be fine for winter workouts in January.
“We are completely comfortable with how Ryan has been handled by the coaching and medical staff at South Carolina,” Mark Hilinski, Ryan’s father, said in the statement. “There was no risk of further injury with his knee so Ryan continued to play and we supported his decision to do so. While it may not be necessary, he is opting to have this procedure done to get back to full go as quickly as possible.”
Hilinski was pressed into action this season by Jake Bentley’s season-ending foot injury in the opener against UNC. Hilinski dealt with elbow tendinitis before a loss to Missouri and then took the hard hit to the knee against Georgia that sidelined him for the rest of the game (a brace might well have saved his season that day).
He played the rest of the season, often looking like he had discomfort in his left knee. Following the Clemson game, he moved around the field slowly and with a limp.
“The University of South Carolina is in full accord with the NCAA in regards to student-athlete welfare,” team physician Dr. Jeff Guy said in the statement. “All medical-related decisions about a player’s availability are made by the medical staff only, and then relayed to the coaching staff.”
For the season, Hilinski threw for 2,357 yards, 11 scores and five interceptions. That yardage total was the second-best for a USC freshman behind Todd Ellis.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 2:54 PM.
