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MSU G Jalen Steele out 6 weeks with fractured left wrist

Steele, as feared, will miss up to 6 weeks due to a fractured wrist, which he suffered in the first half of last night's 78-58 win over Florida Atlantic.

By cristilmethod
Kelly Lambert-US PRESSWIRE

Mississippi State has confirmed the worst fears of all MSU basketball fans tonight, as the school announces that junior guard Jalen Steele will be out 6 weeks with a fracture in his left wrist.

Steele took a bad fall in the first half of last night's 78-58 win over Florida Atlantic, and was transported to the hospital to receive several stiches in a laceration in his forehead and for doctors to take an initial look at his wrist. Steele then had an MRI on his wrist this afternoon, and tonight the school announced that the leader of the team did, in fact, have a fracture in his wrist.

The loss of Steele would be crippling even if it wasn't the latest in a loooooooong line of injuries for this basketball team, but the fact remains that it is, and that makes it monumentally worse. As Brad Locke pointed out, MSU will travel to one of the nation's premier college basketball in-season tournaments, the Maui Invitational, with 7 scholarship players, 6 of which never played in an MSU uniform until this season. NO NORTH CAROLINA PUT THAT GUN DOWN ALL WE HAVE IS THIS SPEAR AND IT AIN'T EVEN SHARP, PLEASE SPARE US.

Thoughts

The one silver lining in this, and you really have to reach to find the lining, is that Steele will be back in time for SEC play. If Steele can return within the 6 week time frame, he could return as early as the December 30 game against Alabama A&M, although the coaching staff may elect to hold him out until State's SEC opener on January 9 against South Carolina at home.

The other slight, slight silver lining is that the fracture occurred in Steele's left wrist, which is his non shooting side. That should mean no potential hiccups in the shot due to the fracture as it won't be on the old shooting hand sad. Seriously, I had to reach to come up with that being a positive. This team faced an uphill battle from the get go, and already has lost two players, Jacoby Davis and and Andre Applewhite, to ACL tears, in addition to all of the off-season player attrition. If I had to guess, though, I would guess that there will be no excuse making from Rick Ray and the staff. He will still expect 110% out of each player, even if they are all playing 30+ minutes a piece. Best of luck to this team in his absence.

Prayers and thoughts go to Jalen in his road to recovery.

Hail State

AMBHG is borrowed from AIRBHG from black heart gold pants, and stands for Angry MSU basketball Hating God

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