Abromaitis Out For Season, Maybe Career

Notre Dame suffers huge blow as leading scorer Tim Abromaitis suffered season-ending torn ACL in practice this morning. (Photo courtesy of USA Today)

It seems as though a good college basketball program has always fallen victim to its star player tearing his ACL at some point in recent seasons. Purdue suffered such a misfortune two years ago when Robbie Hummel went down with the aforementioned knee injury shortly before the NCAA Tournament, while the Boilermakers were still considered a legitimate national championship contender; and just a year ago, St. John's saw their miracle season come to a halt when D.J. Kennedy tore his ACL in the Red Storm's Big East tournament quarterfinal loss to Syracuse, causing Steve Lavin's Johnnies to play their NCAA Tournament game against Gonzaga without the services of "The Hitman."

Less than a calendar year (eight months to be exact) removed from the Kennedy injury, the torn ACL has stricken another solid program, one in the same conference as the boys from the corner of Union and Utopia.

This morning, the long-term hopes of the University of Notre Dame were thrown into serious limbo as senior forward Tim Abromaitis, the top returning scorer for the Fighting Irish following the graduation of Ben Hansbrough, tore his ACL in practice this morning. Abromaitis will miss the remainder of the season; and being that he has already completed graduate school in South Bend, the injury could very well be career-ending.

Notre Dame could technically apply for a sixth year of eligibility for Abromaitis, clearing the way for him to return to the team next year; but head coach Mike Brey said he would leave it up to his star player to decide. The coach praised Abromaitis upon hearing of the injury, calling him "one of the great stories in college athletics," and an "unbelievable representative of Notre Dame both on and off the basketball court."

Abromaitis served a four-game suspension to start the year after it was revealed that he played in two exhibition games prior to the 2008-09 season before redshirting and sitting out that regular season, an NCAA violation. The 6-8 Connecticut native did play in two games before the injury, scoring 22 points in his return against Missouri; and tallied six points against Georgia (both losing efforts) while the Irish participated in the CBE Classic in Kansas City. His injury now paves the way for shooting guard Scott Martin to become the primary scoring option, while sophomore point guard Eric Atkins and redshirt freshman Jerian Grant now have an increased responsibility in the offense.

Notre Dame next takes the court at home on Sunday, when they welcome Bryant University into the Joyce Center before traveling to Spokane to meet Gonzaga Wednesday night.