On the verge of what was supposed to be the best season in school history, Northwestern lost its best player. At least for now.
Senior forward Kevin Coble injured his left foot in practice Tuesday. The injury is being called a mid-foot sprain, and Coble will miss at least four to six weeks. If Coble needs surgery he could miss the entire season. His foot will go under further examination Friday, just hours before NU’s season opener against Northern Illinois.
“Losing Kevin’s going to impact us,” coach Bill Carmody said. “Certain guys are going to have to do more than what they’re doing now and better.”
Coble has been the Wildcats’ leading scorer and rebounder in all three of his seasons at NU. After last year’s 17-win season, fans expected Coble to lead NU to its most successful season ever, with talk of a first-ever NCAA tournament bid running rampant.
With their most pivotal player down, NU’s dream season might be over before it starts. The team is dealing with the rough hand it has been dealt and moving on.
“That’s just how the game goes,” junior point guard Michael Thompson said. “We’ve got to look to our other forwards to step up more. “
In the short term, NU has to find somewhere to go for 35 minutes, 15 points and five rebounds a game.
“It gives a bunch of guys a chance to step up that weren’t able to in previous years,” senior guard Jeremy Nash said. “We’re all college basketball players, and we all have to step up and do our part. We’re playing in the Big Ten because coach saw something in everybody that we could play here.”
Nash, a defensive specialist in NU’s 1-3-1 defense, appears to be the early choice to take Coble’s spot in the starting lineup. Nash doesn’t have the same offensive skill set as Coble, but will become the only senior in NU’s starting lineup.
“I have to come out and help lead the team, tell guys where to be,” Nash said. “That energy that I might usually bring off the bench, I’ll have to bring to start off the game.Other candidates for minutes include senior forward Jeff Ryan, who Carmody said was the best player in NU’s exhibition game, and junior forward Ivan Peljusic, who has provided an offensive spark off the bench in the past. Neither has earned consistent playing time from Carmody.”We have a deep team,” Carmody said. “I’ve been saying for a month now that we can go nine, 10 deep on the roster, so guys will get an opportunity.”This isn’t the first time Coble has missed the start to an NU season. He missed the first nine games of the 2007-08 season to stay home and support his mother through her fight with breast cancer. NU’s players and coaches supported the Cobles through their struggle, but the effects were felt on court in a loss at home to Brown and a 42-point blowout at Virginia. After Coble returned, the team went 1-17 in Big Ten play.”I hope it’s better than that,” Carmody said. “We didn’t have a very good year.”But NU seems to think things will be different this year. Despite the change in personnel, its stated goal remains the same.”We hope Kevin’s recovery goes well and wish him the best of luck,” Thompson said, “But we’re going to try to make our first NCAA Tournament.”[email protected]
