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Monday, June 25
Updated: June 26, 12:53 PM ET
Parker tears ACL in pickup game with teammates
Associated Press
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LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky power forward Jason Parker is
expected to miss the 2001-02 season after injuring his knee in a
pickup game with teammates Sunday night.
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Monday, June 25
Kentucky's Final Four hopes were at its highest point since the '98 title when Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans decided to return to school, rather than stay in the NBA draft. Less than a week later, the Wildcats' inside game and its Final Four dreams took a terrible turn when Jason Parker blew out his ACL during a pickup game Sunday.
Parker was, and is, the Wildcats' best low-post presence. The Wildcats are still one of the deepest teams in the nation, but their inside game is going to have to change a bit next season.
Marvin Stone will have to be more of a presence and Marquis Estill has to be more consistent. He had his moments last season, but failed to put together a full season of dominant play. The 'X' factor is Jules Camara. He's more of a defensive specialist and finesse player offensively, because of his mid-range game. If he can get tougher in the post then the loss of Parker could be lessened.
The good thing about the injury is that it came now, giving Kentucky a full summer to adjust its offense.
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Parker tore the right anterior cruciate ligament and will have
reconstructive knee surgery next week, sports information director
Brooks Downing said Monday. Kentucky athletics trainer David Kindy
said he expects Parker to require four to six months to recover.
The 6-foot-8, 255-pound Parker started all 34 games for Kentucky
last season. He was Kentucky's third-leading scorer (8.6 points)
and its second-leading rebounder (4.7) and was named to the
Southeastern Conference all-freshman team.
"This is a very tough loss for us," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith
said. "Jason is a big part of our team, and we were expecting him
to make even greater contributions as a sophomore."
Parker, a Charlotte, N.C., native, was a two-time AP state
player of the year in high school. He guided West Charlotte High
School to the Class 4A championship his senior season.
He was originally going to play at North Carolina, but a dispute
over test scores landed him at Kentucky.
The loss of Parker dents the high expectations for next year's
Kentucky squad.
The Wildcats went 24-10, tied for the SEC regular season
championship and won the conference tournament last season. Parker
was one of four starters returning after leading scorers Keith
Bogans and Tayshaun Prince announced last week they were both
withdrawing their names from the NBA draft.
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