Bruce Weber shares unfortunate injury update on K-State forward Montavious Murphy
It may be a while before Montavious Murphy is healthy enough to build off his promising freshman season with the Kansas State basketball team.
Murphy, a sophomore forward, is expected to undergo a surgical procedure to fix a knee issue that has sidelined him for most of the 2020-21 season, likely ending his sophomore campaign with the Wildcats.
“I think they are going to probably move forward and have a procedure done and get that knee healthy,” Weber said Thursday during his weekly radio show, “so he can move forward and have a great finish to his career.”
Murphy played in four games this season, averaging 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. He began the season in the starting lineup against Drake and then came off the bench in his other three appearances. Murphy missed more than a month of action before returning to K-State’s lineup last week for seven minutes against TCU. But just when he seemed poised to rejoin the rotation permanently he complained of pain and didn’t travel with the Wildcats for their most recent game at Texas Tech.
Weber said earlier this week that Murphy had a decision to make about whether or not to undergo surgery on his knee, but it now sounds as if Murphy has made his choice.
His absence has been noticeable, especially with fellow sophomore forward Antonio Gordon also out of the lineup because of COVID-19 protocols. K-State will once again have to play without both of them when it plays Oklahoma State on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
“Obviously, it’s tough,” Weber said. “That was the one position when you looked at us ahead of the season and you thought at the four spot you had two guys who had success as freshmen and you had some stability there. They complemented each other, but we really haven’t had either one.”
Murphy was arguably K-State’s most solid freshman contributor a year ago, as he started 16 games and averaged 5.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. But injuries are nothing new for him. He also missed 13 games as a freshman.
A few other K-State players have better injury outlooks at the moment.
Weber also provided a firm timeline on when fans can expect to see Kaosi Ezeagu, Luke Kasubke and Gordon return to the court for the Wildcats.
Gordon should be cleared to play against Iowa State on Wednesday.
Ezeagu, a sophomore transfer from UTEP, could be ready to go against Texas on Jan. 16. He underwent a surgical procedure on his knee earlier this season and hasn’t played since Dec. 5, but Weber said Ezeagu will be active after he gets in a few days of practice.
Kasubke, a freshman guard, could make his college debut one game later against Oklahoma on Jan. 19.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 8:54 PM with the headline "Bruce Weber shares unfortunate injury update on K-State forward Montavious Murphy."