The Texas Longhorns are ranked 23rd in the nation and look like a surefire NCAA tournament team, as they have had a great season in the best conference in the nation. Texas' outlook this season has not always been positive, though, as they got off to a rough start and have played without starting center Cameron Ridley for the majority of the year.
When Ridley went down with a fractured foot, which he suffered in practice, the Longhorns were 8-3 with an extremely impressive win over then number three ranked North Carolina. After Ridley went down, the Longhorns lost three of their next four games and their future looked very bleak. Since that little rut, however, Texas has played some really good basketball and look like a threat come conference tournament and NCAA tournament time.
The hope for the Longhorns was that Ridley would be able to return towards the end of the season to give them a little jolt. Ridley has been making some significant progress, but he is still very unlikely to play in the Big 12 tournament, which starts next week. Despite the fact that he will likely miss the conference tournament, a return for the NCAA tournament remains a realistic possibility.
This foot injury has kept Ridley out for about three months now, but he is doing everything that he possibly can to get back on the floor. The 6-foot-9 center says that he has no pain at all, but he is just waiting for clearance from the doctors. Ridley has yet to be cleared to run and jump, but he will meet with a doctor next week to see if he can get that clearance. That will be the last step before he will be able to get on the court.
Before going down with the injury, Ridley was having a career season and was one of the Longhorns best and most reliable players. The senior was averaging 12.7 points, 10 rebounds and 3.4 blocks through 11 games, and although the team has played well without him, they could certainly use him back on the court.
If Ridley was able to return to the court for the NCAA tournament, it is unlikely that he would be able to play as big of a role as he had prior to the injury. Ridley is still not in game shape, so odds are that he wouldn't be able to give Texas 26 minutes per game like he did before getting hurt, but they would take anything they can get from him. For Ridley, he personally doesn't want to end his college career with an injury, so he will do everything he can to get back on the floor.
