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RALEIGH – When Leaky Black fell to the floor grabbing his right knee with 4:31 left in the first half of North Carolina’s game at NC State on Saturday, it was clear something was wrong.
The four other Tar Heels that were on the court immediately rushed to his aid. UNC Coach Hubert Davis did, too. Black wasn’t yelling in pain, but he did let out a muffed “ouch” that was heard by media and photographers nearby.
Black left for the locker room with head trainer Doug Halverson, and the diagnoses he got during halftime was that he had hyperextended his knee. He wanted to go back into the game, but didn’t, as the Tar Heels finished off the Wolfpack, 84-74, at PNC Arena.
“Leaky hyperextended his knee,” Davis said. “The great thing about it is it's not serious. And nothing is structurally damaged. He did hyper-extend his knee when he came down from contesting a shot against Hellams in the first half.
“He felt like he could come out in the second half and play. I wanted to see him warm up. He said he felt good but didn’t feel 100 percent comfortable cutting and making moves. So, we rested him for the rest of the game.”
His teammates, however, were concerned at first, but soon realized it wasn’t as serious as it initially appeared. Junior forward Armando Bacot, the second-longest tenured Carolina scholarship player behind Black, wasn’t too concerned.
“We knew the severity of it wasn’t that bad…,” Bacot said. “He was back there working with Doug; we knew he was fine. He’ll be fine on Monday. It was just a little banged up and sore.”
Black played 14 minutes, his fewest since getting just 12 minutes in a 28-point loss at Miami in January. He totaled two points and grabbed a rebound. In his place was redshirt freshman Puff Johnson, who exploded to scorebook with career highs in minutes (29), points (16), and rebounds (5).
As for UNC’s (21-8, 13-5 ACC) home finale Monday night versus Syracuse, Davis isn’t sure if Black will play or not, but he also isn’t too concerned at this time.
“Even though it is not anything serious, he is still hurt,” Davis said. “I’m thinking about Leaky. One of the things I told him in the locker room I said, ‘how are you feeling?' He said, ‘Coach, I can play.’ And I said, ‘I don’t believe you. I don’t care about this game, I care about you.’
“My number one concern is not, is he available for Syracuse on Monday night. My number one thing is will Leaky be, ok? Because I love him to death.”
Black is scheduled to walk with Brady Manek and Ryan McAdoo for senior night Monday, though Davis says Black still has some thinking to do, as he can return for a fifth season since the NCAA didn’t count last season against anyone’s eligibility.
UNC and Syracuse tip at 7 PM at the Smith Center.
