Sports
Ohio Men’s Basketball: James Gollon expected to be out for year
By: Taylor Jedrzejek
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In the midst of what could have been his best game as a Bobcat, James Gollon caught a pass on the right wing, took a step to face the basket and stumbled.
The redshirt-junior guard fell to a knee before having to be helped to the locker room by teammates and training staff.
“James appears to have an Achilles tear,“ head coach Saul Phillips said. “I’m not a doctor, but when there’s a gap where your Achilles tendon should be, there’s an issue there structurally. I’m crushed for the kid. He really had it going tonight. He’s gone through so much to get back on the court, so many hours of rehab. Just a pit in my stomach.”
Gollon was a big reason the Bobcats were able to come back to defeat Western Michigan Tuesday night. He provided an immediate spark off the bench, scoring 13 points (3-of-4 from three) in just 8 first-half minutes.
“My heart sunk,” Gavin Block said of Gollon. “Everything that he’s gone through, countless surgeries. He’s definitely the biggest team-first mentality guy that we’ve got. It sucks.”
Gollon is no stranger to injuries. In his four years in Athens, he has undergone four surgeries. He missed his entire sophomore season and missed another seven games last season. The guard also started this season rehabbing an injury and missed the first 12 games.
“The only thing I told him that he could take solace in is that he’s in school to be a doctor,” Phillips said. “He’s working with fruit flies to try to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. The best things that he does in life will be long after the basketball has been put away.”
Gollon will have to decide in the coming weeks whether or not he’s ready to put away that basketball yet. He faces another long rehab if he wants to take the floor as a Bobcat again.