Chennault: To Play or Not to Play
If there’s ever been a team that took a misstep into a new season, it was Wake. The Deacons lost the game to Stetson and their point guard to a broken foot. And best I can tell, they haven’t recovered from either.
Jeff Bzdelik’s first regular-season post-game press conference at Wake began with the news that freshman Tony Chennault had broken his foot and would be sidelined for 8-to-10 weeks. Nobody knows just how much of a difference Chennault might have made in the Deacons’ 6-5 record going into tonight’s home game against Presbyterian, but the glimpses we got in practices and a turn or two against Stetson were tantalizing. He is a pass-first point with a low center of gravity and a desire to get into the lane whenever he can—or in other words,. just what the Deacons have been missing. But as stumbling starts at Wake, N.C. State and North Carolina have reaffirmed, freshmen have been known to struggle defensively before becoming acclimated to the physicality and pace of major-college basketball, and Chennault may have been as much a liability at that end of the court as those he would be replacing.
But it’s pretty safe to say his presence wouldn’t have caused any more damage to a team that has already lost to Stetson, Winthrop and UNC Wilmington and beaten winless UNC Greensboro at home by two.
So now the questions become, when does Chennault return and will he play this season or apply for a medical hardship waiver and begin over again in 2011-12? Which, being the savvy reporter I am, were the two I asked Chennault at yesterday’s practice.
He said the foot is healing, and that he hopes to lose the boot protecting the fractured fifth metatarsal of his left foot in a couple of weeks. But as we’re reminded constantly by trainers and doctors, every human body has its own schedule. Some folks just heal faster than others. So as of yet, nobody has been able to tell Chennault exactly when he’ll be cleared to return. And even after he does, there’s that matter of getting back into shape—and not just good shape, but the kind of tip-top shape it takes to sprint up and down the court three or four times without passing out.
And given the history of Chennault’s foot, Bzdelik and the medical staff should err on the side of caution, which I’m sure they will.
So the earliest Chennault could return, based on the initial prognosis, would be the game at N.C. State on Jan. 8. I’d call that wildly optimistic. If he returns in nine weeks, he’ll play at Virginia Tech on Jan. 15, and if it takes 10 weeks that would put him back for Duke on Jan. 22. There’s also the possibility the original prognosis was off, and that it’ll take even longer to get him back safe and sound.
Chennault said he won’t make his personal call on whether to play this season until he sees how long it takes to get back. He’s open-minded for either possibility. Bzdelik, as you would expect, has taken the same stance of waiting to see how much of the schedule remains by the time Chennault returns. No decision has to be made before then.
But let’s think along with them.
If Chennault makes it back by Duke, that leaves at least 13 games, counting the first round of the ACC Tournament. In that event, I’d say play him this season. Players come and go at a dizzying rate in college athletics, and who can predict four weeks from now, much less four years? And though his return is unlikely to make a difference in the Deacons’ post-season prospects, it would allow Bzdelik to plug back in a critical part to see what kind of chemistry and synergy can be built headed into next season. And without seeing what Chennault can do this season, Bzdelik will have that many more questions to answer when the team reassembles for practice next mid-October.
But if the return takes, say 12 weeks, then he’ll be back for Maryland with only 10 games remaining. A season of eligibility for 10 games is a high price. In that event, I’d leave it totally up to him. If he wants to play this year, I’d play him. If not, I’d be left to hope he’s good enough to want to have around another four years, and not so good that he’d leave for the NBA before April of 2015.