IU Coach Tom Crean said the sophomore forward was held out of practice Monday and is still sore. His status for Wednesday’s game against Northwestern is now in question.
“His status is really a little uncertain right now,” Crean said.
Etou’s right knee struck Hartman’s left knee on a layup attempt in the opening minutes of the second half. Hartman, in visible pain, spent time favoring his knee on the ground before limping off the floor.
The IU medical staff gave Hartman ice for his knee and continued to check in on him in the time since.
Hartman tore the ACL in his right knee almost immediately after last season ended and has been wearing a brace on it all season. Sunday’s injury occurred on the other knee.
The ACL injury has caused Hartman to be limited in practice already this year. Crean said he was “never really fully healthy” to begin with.
Now he’s nursing a second injury to the other knee as well.
“He’s still very sore,” Crean said. “We’ve just got to continue to kinda wait and see.”
The Big Ten is discussing a “year of readiness” proposal mandating redshirts for freshmen basketball and football players, but Crean would rather the plan go away. And he’s not alone.
There were mixed results when Big Ten coaches were asked about the proposal — first reported by Maryland’s independent student newspaper, the Diamondback — but the majority of the coaches were against it.
The Big Ten’s proposal isn’t clear just yet and there is still a long way to go, but it’s mere existence has sparked conversation across college basketball.
Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim is among the public critics so far, as is Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo. Purdue’s Matt Painter was open to discussion and said it was worth at least taking a look at.
But Painter agreed with Crean in saying he wouldn’t support the league’s proposal unless it were adopted by conferences across Division I.
“The initial response is that if it was something that the entire body of college athletics did — in the sense of college basketball and college football — then that’s what it is,” Crean said Monday. “But to look at it in the sense that it would potentially be for a selective conference, I don’t think that makes a lot of sense in the world we live in.”
The Diamondback reports a theory from the proposal that a mandatory redshirt season would benefit the players in the classroom.
It also brought up that an NCAA rule prohibited true freshmen from playing in all sports up until 1972.
Crean refuted the classroom benefit, saying the current academic structure allows athletes to enroll in summer school while doing summer workouts to make up any lost ground in the season.
Crean’s Hoosiers have historically done well in the classroom with a handful of players graduating early.
“That’s a real carrot in front of them to do well academically in the summer,” Crean said. “I feel really good about what we’re doing, and I’m sure I have a lot of colleagues out there who feel good about what they’re doing.”
IU will finish off its road schedule Wednesday when the Hoosiers play the Northwestern Wildcats at 7 p.m. in ?Evanston, Ill.
Crean applauded the improvements Northwestern has made in the recent weeks. It’s coming off a blowout win against Iowa, and Crean described their recent play as “tremendous.”
“It is going to be a battle,” Crean said. “They’re playing extremely well.”
