Sophomore forward Gavin Baxter is the latest loss to BYU’s men’s basketball roster. Baxter suffered a possible season-ending shoulder injury.
The 6-foot-9 forward was injured during a practice last week while battling with a teammate for a rebound, tearing his labrum and dislocating his arm, a according to the Deseret News.
A BYU spokesperson confirmed the injury to The Salt Lake Tribune, but still doesn’t know when they’ll have more information on the severity of the injury or outlook on surgery. As of Tuesday morning, he said they should know “hopefully in the next several days.”
The Daily Herald reported Monday that Baxter has opted for season-ending surgery, rather than going through a difficult rehab to get back on to the floor this season.
Last season, Baxter played in 30 games, starting in eight, as a returned missionary freshman. The forward averaged 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds.
A week ago, after the first day of training camp, coach Mark Pope announced senior TJ Haws had recently undergone minor knee surgery. Haws was expected to miss out a couple more weeks.
Senior Zac Seljaas is also currently out. The guard broke his foot in August during the team's tour of Italy and underwent surgery.
Pope hopes he will be available for the season opener Nov. 5 against Cal Fullerton.
But Yoeli Childs won’t be available. The 6-foot-8 senior forward was suspended for the first nine games of the season by the NCAA after a foul-up over his paperwork in returning to BYU after declaring himself eligible for the NBA Draft.
During the first media availability of the season, Baxter said it definitely would hurt to not have Childs available at the start of the season, but it allows other players to step up.
“It gives us another opportunity as a team to really see what we're made of,” Baxter said. “Obviously, Yoeli is a fantastic player and we really need him if we want to accomplish our goals, but we're just going to approach it like we would any other way and play as a team.”
Now, the team will have to find a way to play without Baxter, as well.
With Baxter out, it looks like Kolby Lee and Dalton Nixon will most likely fill the role.
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