A little injury news from Roy Williams' pre-NC State game press conference.
Freshman forward Kennedy Meeks missed practice on Monday and could miss it again on Tuesday as a result of a sprained ankle he suffered against Wake Forest. Meeks scored and was fouled with 9:28 left in the first half of the Tar Heels 105-72 win over the Demon Deacons. During the play, a Wake Forest defender rolled up on his ankle and Meeks went down. The freshman suffered a sprained ankle and hyper-extended knee. Meeks returned to the game and was mostly effective but on Sunday dealt with significant swelling and has been in a walking boot ever since.
Meeks said he expects to practice today and also anticipates playing Wednesday versus NC State. When asked why he returned to the game against Wake Forest, Meeks said he was "trying to be a tough guy." However doing that may have made the injury worse and he is dealing with that now.
Leslie McDonald's situation is less clear. According to him, there was no specific injury that he recalls during the Wake Forest game and says his left ankle just "started hurting" when he woke up on Sunday. According to McDonald he plans to play versus NC State and has been getting consistent treatment from the training staff to make that happen.
It should be noted that UNC's injury reports, especially as presented by Roy Williams, tend to trend negatively which is to say McDonald will likely play. Meeks probably warrants a closer watch since there were two defined injuries for him against Wake Forest that apparently worsened the next day.
