Kansas’ Brannen Greene to miss at least four months after successful hip surgery

Kansas sophomore wing Brannen Greene had successful surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip on Thursday morning, his father, Jeffrey, told The Star.

The three-hour procedure was performed by J.W. Thomas Byrd, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Nashville Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in Nashville, Tenn.

“(The) surgery went very well,” Kansas coach Bill Self said in a statement. “Everything went as planned.”

While Self has estimated the recovery timeline to be close to five months, Jeffrey Greene said Thursday that doctors were optimistic that Greene could return to the basketball court in four months. Greene will be on crutches for close to eight weeks before beginning the rehab process.

“The rehab will be somewhat significant,” Self said. “It should not impact practice, as he should be full speed by the time we start practicing.”

Greene is believed to have suffered the torn labrum in mid-February, his father said.

“Brannen knew he was in some kind of discomfort and pain, and he couldn’t push off his right leg and jump off his right leg and defend,” Jeffrey Greene said. “He just kind of hid it from the trainers and coach (Bill) Self. He just wanted to play.”

Eventually, though, the pain and swelling became too much to ignore. According to Jeffrey Greene, the doctors found no bone spurs during the operation, which could have set back the recovery process.

Greene, who averaged 5.7 points and 2.1 rebounds as a sophomore, will not play in July’s World University Games, where Kansas will represent the United States in Gwangju, South Korea.

This story was originally published April 16, 2015 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Kansas’ Brannen Greene to miss at least four months after successful hip surgery."