In March 2008, star guard Eric Gordon led Indiana into a first round NCAA Tournament game vs Arkansas. He walked away practically bruised and battered, held to only 20% shooting in a rousing 14-point Razorback win.
That win, Arkansas’ first in March Madness in nine years, temporarily buoyed the spirits of Arkansas basketball fans everywhere. The ensuing 31-point beatdown at the hands of North Carolina, however, obliterated those good vibes.
Eighteen years later, an Eric Gordon of a different sort is putting a damper on a certain hope that today’s Hog fans harbor.
For weeks, they have envisioned what the return of Karter Knox could add to a team that is clicking on a lot of cylinders. After all, he was a projected first-round pick entering the year after playing a key role in last season’s Sweet 16 run.
While his 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game have fallen short of expectations, his best game of the season came against Texas Tech’s stout front line – a game in which he finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds to lead the Razorbacks to a critical non-conference victory.
The idea of him suiting up again looms even larger as Arkansas prepares for its biggest test yet Thursday night.
Top-seeded Arizona, which has lost only two games all year, enters the Sweet 16 as the betting favorite to cut down the nets in April. To pull off the upset, the Razorbacks will need all the help they can get.
The 6-foot-6 wing teased a potential return last week in Portland, Ore. and a healthy Knox, even on a minutes restriction, would boost a thin Arkansas rotation.
With the Arkansas vs Arizona matchup in San Jose, Calif. still a few days away, it’s unknown whether or not he’ll be available. Speculation has filled the void — some more informed than others.
Karter Knox Injury Speculation
Karter Knox’s ability to return to the court this season could boil down to the exact type of surgery he had on Feb. 18.
While the UA announced the star sophomore “underwent a successful procedure to repair his left meniscus,” the school gave no timetable for his return. It also left out the severity of his injury.
That latter detail is significant, as Dr. Eric Gordon laid out in the “injury report” segment of Monday’s 4th & Five podcast.
He laid out two possible paths when it comes to meniscus tears:
- An orthopedic surgeon can do a trim, in which the torn part is removed and the rest is left alone, which Gordon said is a “very simple surgery” and requires only a day or two on crutches. That is what doctors do “most of the time” because it allows athletes to bounce back pretty quick.
- A full-blown repair, which takes much longer to heal and typically requires 4-6 weeks on crutches. That means the recovery timeline is at least 3-4 months – if not longer. USC’s Alijah Arenas, for example, missed six months before finally debuting for Eric Musselman’s squad this year.
Based on what he’s observed from afar, Gordon said he suspects Knox is in that latter category because “he seemed to me like he was on crutches longer than a typical trim.” That’d mean he almost certainly won’t be available to play at any point during March Madness.
Sources told Best of Arkansas Sports that Knox is not yet full-go in practice, so that also indicates he’s not quite ready to return to the court.
Counterpoint for Arkansas Basketball
Of course, Gordon stressed to 4th & Five host D.J. Williams that he didn’t know anything official. The Little Rock-based doctor made an educated guess based on his available information.
There’s also a chance it was just a trim and the Razorbacks have been ultra-cautious with how they handle the injury. Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari has always been known as someone who looks out for what’s best for his players, which is a major reason why he’s able to continually bring in five-star talent.
It’s also worth noting that Calipari told reporters before the SEC Tournament that Knox could potentially return the weekend of the Final Four, if the Razorbacks were still alive. That would be much quicker than the 3-4 months Gordon said is the typical recovery for a meniscus repair.
Calipari could have been lying when he gave that potential timeline. He was accused of doing something similar with Boogie Fland’s injury last year, with Seth Davis insinuating the Hall of Fame coach was trying to influence his team’s seeding for March Madness.
But that doesn’t seem like it’d apply here. The NCAA Tournament selection committee isn’t going to consider a potential third-weekend return for a team that was widely projected to be a 4 or 5 seed.
It also wouldn’t make sense for Knox to tell reporters he was trying to be ready in time for the Sweet 16, as he did last Wednesday, if he was on that longer timeline. Perhaps he was being overly optimistic and his coach’s estimated return is more realistic, but he’d still be only a month and a half post-surgery when the Final Four tips off in Indianapolis.
This time last year, Knox played as well as he has at any point in his college career to help take Arkansas to the brink of the Elite Eight.
Now, entering the second week of March Madness, he’s once again a dominant storyline.
Just not in the way he imagined when choosing to run it back again for a shot at the crown so many now think is Arizona’s to lose.
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Gordon also gave his take on Nick Pringle for 4th and Five:
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More coverage of Arkansas basketball and March Madness from BoAS…
