The Virginia Cavaliers will enter the NCAA Tournament with title aspirations, as the ACC champions are the No. 1 overall seed and have only lost twice this season. But on Tuesday afternoon, the program announced that it will be without the services of one of its top players due to an injury.
Redshirt freshman guard De’Andre Hunter will miss the next 10-12 weeks due to a broken wrist, according to a release. Hunter, the conference’s Sixth Man of the Year and an All-Freshman Team selection, suffered the injury during the ACC Tournament and will need to undergo surgery on March 19.
Hunter had been fantastic for the Hoos since the calendar turned to 2018, averaging 11.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in his role off the bench during the regular season. He was also developing into quite the defender on the perimeter for the stingiest defense in college basketball, and was capable of hitting big shots, as evidenced by his made three to seal Virginia’s comeback win over Louisville.
Virginia has a potentially really tough draw, as it will get either Creighton or Kansas State in the second round before a showdown with either Arizona or Kentucky (assuming nothing crazy happens before then) in the Sweet 16. Not having Hunter means the team will go into the Tournament without its best NBA prospect, as Hunter projects as a potentially dangerous two-way wing throughout his college career and once he heads to the pros.
It’s still possible that the Cavaliers can win the NCAA Tournament, but the job becomes a whole lot harder without Hunter in the fold.
