Butler Guard Rotnei Clarke Has No Timetable for a Return Following Neck Injury


Rob Leifheit-USA Today Sports

After a hard foul and bizarre injury to Butler star Rotnei Clarke, the Bulldogs have now announced that there is no timetable for his return to the court.

Clarke suffered a sprained neck when he landed awkwardly against the bottom of the hoop in Saturday’s win over Dayton. The Bulldogs, who improved to 14-2 overall with this past weekend’s victory, are prepared to host Richmond on Wednesday, while an intriguing non-conference date with Gonzaga is scheduled for Saturday.

Butler head coach Brad Stevens will hold out optimism that Clarke could play on Saturday, depending on his comfort level during the week, but there are no guarantees.

Butler’s head athletic trainer Ryan Galloy had this to say in a school release on Sunday, “The MRI confirmed the presence of a significant neck sprain. His spinal cord and cervical discs were viewed normal.  Right now, he’s sore and stiff, but he’s out of the collar.  The next question is when he can resume contact.”

In his first and only season with the Bulldogs, Clarke has burst onto the scene, not only in the Atlantic 10 Conference, but also on the national stage. Clarke is widely considered one of the top shooters in college basketball and is leading the team offensively at 16.3 points per game.

Clarke had five points in 12 minutes of action before leaving the team’s victory against Dayton. The 6-foot guard was lifted off the court on a stretcher, but was able to give the crowd a thumbs up before departing.

Butler and Richmond will tip-off at 7:00pm (EST) on Wednesday night.

 

Paul Seaver is the College Basketball Network Manager at Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS

 

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