Men’s Basketball

Sophomore forward Vic Law will undergo shoulder surgery for a torn labrum and miss the entire 2015-2016 season, Northwestern announced Wednesday.

Coach Chris Collins said he found out about Law’s injury about a month ago. He said Law tried to play through the pain, but after last week’s exhibition game, the coaching staff and Law decided it would be best for him to get surgery.

“I hate it for him because he had a great summer, he had a really good fall, and I thought he was poised to have a breakout year,” Collins said. “He was our best rebounder. That’s something we have to make up for, it’s gotta be a collective effort.”

Collins said he expects Law to make a full recovery in 4-6 months.

Law, who was the 66th ranked player in ESPN’s class of 2014 rankings, was projected to start this year and play a major role for the team. He appeared in all 32 games last year, making 19 starts as a freshman, and he averaged 7.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Law said the injury got progressively worse to the point where he could no longer play.

“It was a really sharp, intense pain. I felt like my shoulder was moving around a lot as I played. As a basketball player, when you know you’re limited, it’s kind of hard,” he said. “Ultimately it was my decision because nobody knows my body like I know my body.”

Sophomore guard/forward Scottie Lindsey, who was a part of Collins’ first recruiting class at NU along with Law, guard Bryant McIntosh and forward Gavin Skelly, said Law will be missed on the court. He also said he feels a lot more pressure with Law’s absence.

“It’s really sad because I want to play with him. That was the goal for us all to play together for four years straight,” he said. He’s gonna get through it, he’s gonna be better for next year and we’ll be a better team when he comes back.”

Despite not having Law, Collins is still optimistic about the season.

He said other players, particularly junior forward Sanjay Lumpkin, freshman forward Aaron Falzon and junior forward Nathan Taphorn, will have to step up to fill Law’s shoes.

“People are gonna think we should cancel the season or not play or wait until next year,” Collins said. “Hopefully that drives the guys. We are still confident that we can play good basketball and be successful and it starts Friday night.”

The Wildcats open their season on Friday at Welsh-Ryan Arena against UMass Lowell.

This post was updated on Nov. 11 at 9:55 p.m.

Will Ragatz contributed reporting.

Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article incorrectly spelled a player’s name. His name is Bryant McIntosh. The Daily regrets the error.

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