During their nationally televised practice at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the injury status of Duke redshirt freshman Marshall Plumlee was released to the masses. The diagnosis is that Plumlee has suffered a stress fracture of his left 2nd metatarsal that will cause him to miss 6-8 weeks of playing time for the Blue Devils.
For those not entirely familiar, metatarsals are the long bones in the forefoot. There are five in each foot, one leading up to each toe and forming the metatarso-phalangeal (MTP) joints with the phalanges (toe bones) at the base of each toe.
The youngest of the three Plumlee brothers, Marshall suffered the injury during an individual workout last Wednesday. He has been seen wearing a protective boot on his left foot as evidenced Monday during Duke’s practice at Fort Bragg.
With seniors Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee anchoring the low-post this season, Marshall is seen as the main backup at the 4 and 5 positions. With Plumlee nursing his injury, that means that 6-7 junior forward Josh Hairston will step into the role as the main backup at the 4 and 5 until Plumlee returns fully healthy. Hairston does have experience playing down low, but is terribly undersized at the position. Incoming 6-8 freshman, Amile Jefferson, should also figure into the rotation when needed.
Plumlee voluntarily took a redshirt last season due to the fact that there was already a formidable group of interior players for Duke. Instead of playing sparse minutes, Plumlee decided that it’d be a better individual situation for him to improve his game and work on adding size to his 6-11 frame.
Plumlee, who was named to the ACC Academic Roll last season, participated in the offseason with the East Coast All Stars at the Four Nations Cup averaging 7.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game.
By Chad Lykins
