Defending National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough is out indefinitely with a stress reaction condition in his right leg. The Tar Heels forward was held out of practice on Thursday and an MRI revealed the condition. "He'll be ok," Hansbrough's father, Gene, told ESPN.com's Andy Katz. "His leg's been bothering him for a couple of weeks. It's a stress reaction and he needs to rest a bit. He just needs time to let it heal. There is no reason for him to limp through it."There is no timetable for Hansbrough's return.
According to ESPN medical analyst Dr. Michael Kaplan, the MRI likely showed increased uptake in tibia (leg bone) suggesting a stress reaction. An overload or overuse type phenomenon occurs with inflammation and, ultimately, fatigue failure with stress fracture. This is a precursor condition to stress fracture. A period of rest is mandatory for tissues to quiet down or worsening injury will result.
This is the second injury blow to the top ranked Heels. Senior swingman Marcus Ginyard will be out another five weeks after he had surgery to fix a stress fracture in his foot. The Tar Heels begin the regular season against Penn on November 15th.
Hansbrough's absence will mean Carolina will have to rely on junior Deon Thompson and freshman Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller to be the main options in the frontcourt.
