The Michigan State Spartans have likely been the most impressive team in college basketball so far this season as they are 12-0, ranked first in the nation and one of those wins came over the current number two team, Kansas. One of the biggest reasons for Michigan State's success is senior guard Denzel Valentine who is off to a spectacular start to his final season in East Lansing. Valentine though, looks like he will miss a few games as he underwent knee surgery on Monday, according to Gary Parrish of CBS Sports.
Valentine suffered the injury while attempting a layup in Sunday night's practice and had surgery to repair torn cartilage in the knee on Monday. The injury is considered "very minor" and head coach Tom Izzo doesn't expect him to be out for too long as the timetable going around is 2-3 weeks. Izzo also says that after effects of the surgery are not a concern at all right now. The Spartans are expecting Valentine to make a full, quick recovery from the injury.
Valentine is currently the leader in many people's minds for the National Player of the Year award as he is averaging 18.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists through 12 games and is doing it all for the number one ranked team in the nation. Valentine is expected to be replaced in the starting lineup by Eron Harris who has appeared in every game this season and played 16.3 minutes per game but he hasn't found his shot yet as he is making just 40 percent of his field goal attempts.
The 2-3 week timetable for Valentine likely means that he could miss anywhere from 3-5 games with this injury including the Big Ten opener against a very good Iowa team on the road. It seems like a guarantee that he will miss three games but he might be able to make it back in time for either Illinois (1/7) or Penn State (1/10.) The latest it seems Valentine might return would be for the Spartans second matchup against Iowa at home on January 14th.
