University of North Carolina Athletics
Williams Updates Meeks' Status
March 23, 2015 | Men's Basketball
By Adam Lucas
On Monday afternoon, Roy Williams said at his regularly scheduled press conference he would have more information about the extent of Kennedy Meeks' injury later in the day. The news he relayed on his radio show Monday night was not especially positive.
"It's not good," the head coach told Jones Angell. "He did not practice today. We don't know what it will be later in the week. He did not practice today at all. We'll just have to wait and see. They're not completely ruling him out, and they're not saying he can play. Let me say it that way: I don't think we'll have him, but we'll just have to wait and see.”
Meeks suffered a sprained left knee with approximately three minutes remaining in Saturday's win over Arkansas in the round of 32. His lack of practice time on Monday doesn't necessarily mean anything for a game scheduled for Thursday night at 7:47 p.m. Eastern. However, if he doesn't show improvement in time to practice later in the week, he won't be in the lineup. "If he doesn't practice Wednesday, it would be hard for him to play on Thursday," Williams said.
Meeks, who leads the team in field goal percentage and ranks second in rebounding and third in scoring, has started 31 games as a sophomore but has had a difficult final month of the season. He missed the ACC Tournament opener against Boston College due to illness, and then was plagued by foul trouble in the game against the Razorbacks and played just 15 minutes. He has averaged 21.2 minutes per game in Carolina's last five contests after averaging nearly 25 per game for the balance of the season.
Carolina will depart for Los Angeles tonight before practicing in Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday. The next scheduled media availability for the Tar Heels--and thus, the next likely update--will come Wednesday at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
