Kevin Jairaj- US Presswire
Lehigh guard C.J. McCollum has the bigger picture in the forefront of his decision making. The nation’s leading scorer suffered a broken foot in a game against VCU last week and in a best case scenario could be ready to go in a little over two months, just in time for the Patriot league tournament.
Lehigh coach Brett Reed knows the risk of putting McCollum back on the floor too soon. The stakes are much higher than a conference championship.
There were four NBA general managers and 29 scouts on hand when McCollum went down against the Rams. The preseason All-American has a bright future at the next level and won’t risk re-injury by speeding up the healing process.
McCollum has averaged 21.3 points over his career at Lehigh, and last year he dropped 30 points in an NCAA tournament shocker over the Duke Blue Devils.
The estimated recovery time is eight to 10 weeks but there is a chance that Lehigh will be without their star the remainder of the season.
There will be a lot people arguing that this is a selfish move by McCollum, others will applaud him for protecting a hopeful lucrative career. Only time will tell.
Replacing McCollum will be impossible, the Mountain Hawks will look for veteran guys to step up and hope for a little luck along the way. Senior Forward Gabe Knutson is averaging 15.7 points a game while Junior Mackey McKnight has proven himself as another scoring option, tallying 11.3 points each night he hits the floor.
McCollum wasn’t the entire team, but most of their offensive schemes were focused around him. It will be a tough road for the Mountain Hawks.
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