Tar Heels' Kendall Marshall recovering from wrist surgery
Kendall Marshall #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels prepares to play against the Creighton Bluejays. (March 18, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
The father of North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall said Monday his son is recovering from surgery on his broken right wrist and it's unclear if he'll return for the NCAA regional games in St. Louis.
Dennis Marshall said the procedure done in Chapel Hill, N.C., to insert a screw into his son's wrist lasted about 35 minutes. He said when Kendall plays again would be based on "what would be best for Kendall in the long term" and that he didn't know whether the sophomore would be ready to play in the round of 16 against Ohio on Friday.
"I don't know because Kendall's just coming out of his anesthesia, we haven't talked and I don't know how he'll feel four days from now," Dennis Marshall said. "We just don't know.
"Is it impossible he plays this weekend? No, it's not. Is it likely he plays next weekend? It definitely is. It's something we just don't know."
The school also said Marshall's status was unclear for Friday's game in an update yesterday afternoon. The Tar Heels (31-5) are the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional.
The lefthanded point guard fractured the scaphoid bone -- located near the thumb -- when he was fouled driving to the basket during the second half of Sunday's win against Creighton at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Marshall, from Dumfries, Va., is a second-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference pick who has 351 assists in 36 games, the best season total in league history and fourth most in NCAA history.
The pass-first point guard is averaging about eight points and 10 assists, though he has stepped up his offense recently and scored in double figures the past six games. He had 18 points and 11 assists in the 87-73 win against the Bluejays, his fifth double-double in that span.
