Angel Garcia to miss next season with torn ACL
By: Joseph Russell
Issue date: 9/16/09 Section: Sports
While the future of The University of Memphis men's basketball team gets brighter, the present just got a little dimmer.
Sophomore Angel Garcia, who was expected to play major minutes this upcoming season, tore his right anterior cruciate during practice Thursday and is expected to miss the entire year.
"It's an unfortunate break for Angel," said coach Josh Pastner. "Obviously, when I found out, I was absolutely sick to my stomach for Angel. I felt horrible for him."
The 6-foot-11 forward from Puerto Rico suffered the injury during a straight-line drill when his knee simply gave out on him.
"It's just one of those things that happens," Pastner said. "It's part of basketball. There was no contact involved."
Garcia is the second player for the Tigers to suffer this type of injury, as French forward Martin Ngaloro tore his ACL earlier in the offseason and will remain in France.
Pastner stressed the importance of keeping Garcia's spirits up, especially because he also missed last season due to academics.
"We've got to be really positive with Angel," Pastner said. "We have to make sure we're behind Angel for him to get his rehab and get healthy. We need to really keep his spirits up. For him it's going to mentally be tough for him to sit out a second straight year and not be on the court."
With Garcia on the bench, Pastner will count on his only true big men - Pierre Henderson-Niles and Will Coleman - even more. Sophomore guard/forward combo Wesley Witherspoon may also be called on to play some in the post.
Pastner didn't rule out the possibility of playing "small ball" and trying to beat opponents up and down the court.
"We've still got a good nucleus," Pastner said. "We're going to deal with what's been dealt to us."
Now with only eight scholarship players on the roster, it leaves little room for error when dealing with injuries or other problems.
"We have zero tolerance for error right now," Pastner said. "Zero, zilch, none - this is what we've got."
Sophomore Angel Garcia, who was expected to play major minutes this upcoming season, tore his right anterior cruciate during practice Thursday and is expected to miss the entire year.
"It's an unfortunate break for Angel," said coach Josh Pastner. "Obviously, when I found out, I was absolutely sick to my stomach for Angel. I felt horrible for him."
The 6-foot-11 forward from Puerto Rico suffered the injury during a straight-line drill when his knee simply gave out on him.
"It's just one of those things that happens," Pastner said. "It's part of basketball. There was no contact involved."
Garcia is the second player for the Tigers to suffer this type of injury, as French forward Martin Ngaloro tore his ACL earlier in the offseason and will remain in France.
Pastner stressed the importance of keeping Garcia's spirits up, especially because he also missed last season due to academics.
"We've got to be really positive with Angel," Pastner said. "We have to make sure we're behind Angel for him to get his rehab and get healthy. We need to really keep his spirits up. For him it's going to mentally be tough for him to sit out a second straight year and not be on the court."
With Garcia on the bench, Pastner will count on his only true big men - Pierre Henderson-Niles and Will Coleman - even more. Sophomore guard/forward combo Wesley Witherspoon may also be called on to play some in the post.
Pastner didn't rule out the possibility of playing "small ball" and trying to beat opponents up and down the court.
"We've still got a good nucleus," Pastner said. "We're going to deal with what's been dealt to us."
Now with only eight scholarship players on the roster, it leaves little room for error when dealing with injuries or other problems.
"We have zero tolerance for error right now," Pastner said. "Zero, zilch, none - this is what we've got."