Van Deest injured

[panther-state]

Any idea on the specifics of the injury. Thats a tough loss for Drake if he does have to miss any regular season time and missing a trip to Australia wouldn't help anything. What are the thoughts on his back-up? I'm not sure who Drake usually uses to rotate with Seth, but I'm pretty sure they don't have any other true centers on the team. I would think Woods or Jordan Clarke would be decent options since both have some very solid size to kinda be that pseudo-center like O'Rear was for the Panthers. However I don't know much about the Bulldogs

Woods was the backup center last year. 6-9, incredible athlete, but can't shoot beyond about 2 feet. Other possibilities would be Jordan Clarke or Reece Uhlenhopp. Woods, Clarke and Uhlenhopp are all currently rehabbing from injuries, as are 4 of the Bulldogs' guards. Other possibilities for some minutes at the 5 would be walk-ons Corey Parker and Greg Whitaker.

Does Uhlenhopp realy have much post prescence? I know he has some decent size to him but otherwise I've seen him as a F who can provide some shooting prescence and match up defensively on the perimeter. I've never really seen him as a threat down low though....also just skimming through a DU roster from a program last year, Cory Parker seems to have some good size as well, what's the deal with him? Just not much of a baller?

[DUBulldog]

Any idea on the specifics of the injury. Thats a tough loss for Drake if he does have to miss any regular season time and missing a trip to Australia wouldn't help anything. What are the thoughts on his back-up? I'm not sure who Drake usually uses to rotate with Seth, but I'm pretty sure they don't have any other true centers on the team. I would think Woods or Jordan Clarke would be decent options since both have some very solid size to kinda be that pseudo-center like O'Rear was for the Panthers. However I don't know much about the Bulldogs

Woods was the backup center last year. 6-9, incredible athlete, but can't shoot beyond about 2 feet. Other possibilities would be Jordan Clarke or Reece Uhlenhopp. Woods, Clarke and Uhlenhopp are all currently rehabbing from injuries, as are 4 of the Bulldogs' guards. Other possibilities for some minutes at the 5 would be walk-ons Corey Parker and Greg Whitaker.

Does Uhlenhopp realy have much post prescence? I know he has some decent size to him but otherwise I've seen him as a F who can provide some shooting prescence and match up defensively on the perimeter. I've never really seen him as a threat down low though....also just skimming through a DU roster from a program last year, Cory Parker seems to have some good size as well, what's the deal with him? Just not much of a baller?

Good observation on Reece. He was more of a perimeter player in high school. Due to the make-up of Drake's roster, he's been forced to play more on the interior during his career so far. His freshman season, he was the back-up '5', and did a suprisingly good job, but it's certainly not his ideal position.

Parker does have good size, and he can shoot the ball pretty well. He isn't the quickest guy in the world, to put it mildly, and he tends to get in foul trouble quickly. For a walk-on, he's very solid, but not the kind of guy who's going to get major minutes for many MVC teams.

[MVCfans]

Van Deest had surgery on his right shoulder yesterday to repair a torn labrum. 4-6 months recovery expected per Coach Phelps. I retweeted his tweet - https://twitter.com/#!/MVCfans

[Aargh]

Van Deest had surgery on his right shoulder yesterday to repair a torn labrum. 4-6 months recovery expected per Coach Phelps. I retweeted his tweet - https://twitter.com/#!/MVCfans

It's unfortunate his injury turned out this way.

If he's going to be out until some time in the November - January time frame, you have to consider a medical redshirt as a possibility. Switching from recovering and rehabbing to game-ready for D1 BB is quite a challenge and isn't going to happen immediately.

[valleychamp]

Yeah, I'd look for him to redshirt. IMO, it will be a wasted year if he tries to make a comeback this season.

[DUBulldog]

Agree 100% with Aargh and Valley Champ. It was be foolish not to redshirt him this season.

It will hurt this season, but might help the Bulldogs long-term. I was concerned, knowing that they'd lose all their big guys after the 2012-13 season. If SVD redshirts, at least all their big men won't be in the same graduating class anymore.