NCAA Basketball - Tyler Hansbrough appearance in season opener in doubt - By: A. Nolan

The North Carolina head Coach Roy Williams said in an official statement on Wednesday, that the UNC star Tyler Hansbrough will probably not be playing on Saturday’s opening game against Pennsylvania. He also said that they prefer to take all the precautions in this case and give Hansbrough a little more time to recover from a stress injury on his right shin; he hasn’t practiced for two weeks now because this type of injury can lead to a stress fracture.

"It's extremely doubtful that he would play against Pennsylvania, and I emphasize extremely doubtful," Williams said. "We will continue to evaluate him and have more information when it becomes available."

He already lost the exhibition game against North Carolina-Pembroke last Saturday, and even though his team won the game 102-62, it noticed that they played quite different than when he is in the court, since the important spot he leaves there is quite difficult to fill.

It has been difficult for Tyler; he is used to play in every game and in every practice and the only thing that he has been able to do in the last ten days is to shoot free throws. Hansbrough has played 108 games with North Carolina since he is in the team, which is about three years of career, and the first game he had ever missed with the team was that of last Saturday.

According to his teammates, the team will have to focus on what is coming up for them this season, it has been very difficult but they will have to figure it out. They have some other players sidelined too like Marcus Ginyard who is the team’s top defender; he had surgery last month and is now recovering.

Hansbrough started his NCAA career with the University of North Carolina in 2005. He scored an average of 18.9 points per game on his first season and was awarded as the 2006 ACC Freshman of the Year and selected to the 2006 All Conference Team in unanimous decisions. That same year he had and amazing performance in a game against Georgia Tech where he managed to score 40 points; his best record as a freshman. For the season 2007-08, his point average per game was of 22.6 which was the highest record in UNC history in 28 years. He also earned the titles of National Player of the Year, ACC player of the year and NCAA Tournament regional MVP of the year, among others during that season.

For his senior year, he made the tough decision of remaining in North Carolina even though he has had the option of being drafted to the NBA since a long time ago, but he has always declined it, unlike some other players who opt to leave the school early without any hesitation.

Tyler is not interested on winning a lot money or having a bunch of awards for this coming season, he just loves college life and to play basketball. He will take one step at a time; first of all, he is thinking on recovering from his injury for this season and then, he will care about the rest. Not bad for a young men who is considered by many as the best player of the country.

About the Author

Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer on NBA games and sports action for the sportsbook www.instantactionsports.com/ Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

Article Directory: http://www.articlerich.com

Additional Articles From - Home | Recreation & sport | Basketball