University of North Carolina Athletics
Injured Tar Heels Have Different Timelines
October 21, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 21, 2008
By Sergio Tovar
Injuries are a part of playing sports. They can range from something minor as a jammed finger to something potentially career-ending as a torn ligament. As much as many fans would hope Carolina basketball players were immune to injuries, they simply aren't.
Three seniors--Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard and Mike Copeland--have been battling injuries throughout their Carolina careers. Both Frasor and Ginyard have suffered foot problems in previous years, while Copeland has suffered from a host of injuries during his tenure in Chapel Hill.
All three players also have suffered severe injuries in the past year.
Ginyard, who is still wearing a cast on his left leg from a surgery he had Oct. 8 to repair a broken foot, should stay sidelined for at least eight weeks, meaning the Alexandria, Va., native should be out until mid-December. This would mean Ginyard would miss at least 11 games, including the Maui Invitational, before he could make his return.
Ginyard's injury started to bother him at the end of August when he sprained his ankle. He said that after not playing for six weeks, the foot was still hurting and that's when the fracture started to show on MRIs and CAT Scans.
"It was one of those things where it wasn't necessarily a clear cut decision to make," Ginyard said. "We feel that we made a good decision going ahead and getting it fixed now and not letting it bother me anymore throughout the season."
Ginyard said he feels somewhat lucky about having the injury before the season and that he will hopefully not have to miss too many games.
"I guess when you think about it it's better now than having to continue to play on it and have it broken later," he said.
Roy Williams said he hopes Ginyard will learn and thing or two while he's recovering.
"Hopefully over the course of this time when he's rehabbing and getting healthy he might even be able to sit back and look and observe and maybe even gain something," the head coach said.
Ginyard expects his time on the bench to help him become a better player.
"I think that in a sense you always have an advantage being able to see what's going on before you're put into it, so I just have to use that as a great opportunity to see how the season is going, to see how the team is playing, to see what type of things we need to improve on as that one person looking into the situation from the outside," he said.
"You just have to use those things to your advantage and try to use that as help when you get back on the court."
Ginyard's defensive prowess will surely be missed on the court, but Frasor hopes the younger players see this as an opportunity to improve.
"Marcus is hands-down our best defensive player and he can guard a different variety of players, so guys are definitely going to have to step up and concentrate and work as hard as he does in practice and on the court every game," Frasor said.
Frasor, who tore his ACL Dec. 27 against Nevada, has recovered from his injury and should once again be a big important contributor to the team.
"The knee feels good," Frasor said, pointing to a large scar on his left knee. "I have a little tendonitis in there where they took the tendon out but they said that's to be expected."
Copeland was recently released by Dr. Tim Taft, an arthroscopy and knee problems specialist at UNC Hospitals, to start working on more cuts after tearing his right ACL during a pick-up game in May. The Winston-Salem native said the rehab has been tough.
"It's been hard, but it's a lot harder now because I'm starting to do a lot of stuff with strength," Copeland said. "Sometimes it's just really tight. It doesn't feel bad, it just feels different--it doesn't feel the same as my other knee."
Copeland expects to be back on the court sometime between mid-November and early December.
