‘My heart goes out to Justin.’ Frank Martin, Gamecocks waiting on Minaya injury news
As South Carolina basketball coach Frank Martin spoke Monday morning, his steady swingman was in the doctor’s office.
Justin Minaya, who injured his left thumb late in the first half of Saturday’s win over Missouri, could be out for an extended period of time. Martin didn’t have a full update when he addressed reporters, but he sounded less than optimistic about Minaya playing Wednesday at Ole Miss — and beyond.
“If he was a football player, they’d club it and he’d play the rest of the year and they’d fix it after the year,” Martin said. “But it looks like it’s going to need surgery to get repaired. So we’re trying to figure out how to manage that moving forward.”
Martin said an official release from USC on Minaya’s status could come late Monday or Tuesday.
Minaya, who took a medical redshirt last year after suffering a knee injury, was hurt Saturday when he collided with Mizzou’s Tray Jackson while attempting to offensive rebound. He exited the game with 32.6 seconds left in the first half, but returned for 13 second half minutes with his thumb taped.
The redshirt sophomore is averaging just under eight points and just over six rebounds a game. Since a scoreless effort at Tennessee on Jan. 11, Minaya has scored in double figures four times, including an 18-point, eight-rebound, five-assist effort over the full 40 minutes at Texas A&M on Jan. 18.
“He’s playing with such incredible energy,” Martin said. “And when you couple his energy with his aggression at the rim, rebounding, blocking shots, his defense helping and defending on the perimeter ... He was starting to shoot the basketball, he was starting to regain that confidence that he had from a shooting standpoint. There’s a reason he played as many minutes as he played.”
The 6-foot-5 Minaya has started all 21 games for the Gamecocks (13-8, 5-3 SEC). Martin said he’d rely on freshmen Wildens Leveque and Jalyn McCreary and sophomore Alanzo Frink to help fill Minaya’s potential void.
“My heart goes out to Justin because I don’t think I’ve been around too many guys that care about their team as much as he cares about our team,” Martin said. “Hopefully we can figure out a way to keep him on the court. But that’s a decision for me to make. That’s a decision that has to be made between doctors and himself and his family.”
NEXT
What: South Carolina (13-8, 5-3 SEC) at Ole Miss (10-11, 1-7)
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Oxford, Mississippi
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
This story was originally published February 3, 2020 at 1:30 PM.
