When news broke before tip-off on Thanksgiving afternoon that Virginia Tech men's basketball forward Tobi Lawal was not going to play against Saint Mary's in the semifinals in the Battle 4 Atlantis, it opened some eyes. It caused concern when his left foot was in a walking boot.
Lawal didn't play against VCU on Friday morning, and he didn't play in Tuesday night's ACC/SEC Challenge win in overtime at South Carolina. The Hokies have a big non-conference home game on Saturday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum against George Mason, and they will again be without their exciting player. In fact, it might be a while before Lawal is back in the lineup.
Mike Young gives discouraging Tobi Lawal injury update
Head coach Mike Young joined Tech Talk Live at Tech Sideline, and he gave an update on his forward, and it continues to not sound promising.
"It’s involved,'' said Young. "I’m not sure what to tell you. He’s not going to be back any time soon. I don’t have enough information and it’s also going to be a part of Tobi, he’s going to be awfully limited in what he can do. Keeping him sharp is going to be very difficult.''
The longer he's out, the more concerning it's going to be. Taking the approach Virginia Tech is makes sense. Better to be safe than sorry. If they can survive without him, they can continue to build momentum toward a potential NCAA Tournament berth. A win over George Mason on Saturday would be a good résumé win in March for the committee to see. The Hokies open ACC play on New Year's Eve at home against Virginia. It doesn't sound like that is an option for a return.
"Conditioning, coming back, we’ll figure all of that out. We all hope that it’s sooner rather than later. We don’t know a time frame. Early January, I don’t know. It’s going to be a little bit more before we do know,'' Young added.
This just doesn't sound like it's going to be anytime soon before Lawal returns. It's a big blow on a number of levels and will test Virginia Tech's depth. Amani Hansberry stepped up against South Carolina, and Christian Gurdak and Antonio Dorn are going to have to continue to give Young big minutes. That starts on Saturday against George Mason.