James Blackmon might be a little slow to get going in his follow up to a terrific freshman year as he recovers from knee surgery this offseason.
Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel reported Tuesday that Blackmon had surgery to repair torn meniscus cartilage in his left knee and will be out until September. Blackmon is expected to recover in six to eight weeks and be back to full strength before the start of October practice.
“It was a tough setback for James and all of us, but in the scheme of things relatively minor in the way that it has all been handled,” Indiana head coach Tom Crean told Thamel. “He had a great spring and was in the midst of having an even better summer.”
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
[MORE BIG TEN: Spartans' Valentine, Terps' Trimble picked for USA Basketball roster]
Blackmon was great last season, earning Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors after averaging 15.7 points per game, eighth in the conference and second on the team behind Yogi Ferrell. He made 77 3-pointers on the season, tied for sixth in the Big Ten, and ranked eighth in the conference with an 80.6 free-throw percentage.
Blackmon opted to return to the Hoosiers for the upcoming season rather than make the jump to the NBA.
Indiana is expected to be one of the better teams in the conference and the country next season, welcoming back Blackmon, Ferrell, Troy Williams, Robert Johnson and Nick Zeisloft, the team's five leading scorers from a year ago, as well as adding freshmen Thomas Bryant, Juwan Morgan and O.G. Anunoby.