The start of college basketball season is months away, but head coach Fran Dunphy's Temple team may have already suffered a huge blow.
Senior point guard Josh Brown suffered a left Achilles tendon injury last week and will undergo surgery on Wednesday. The timetable for Brown's recovery is unknown at this time.
OwlScoop.com first reported the news.
Last year's leading scorer and floor general Quenton DeCosey and big man Jaylen Bond have both graduated, so Brown was expected to take on much more of a leadership role on an evolving Owls team this coming season. Brown and guard/forward Daniel Dingle are the only seniors who were expected to steadily see significant playing time next season. Junior forward Obi Enechionyia is the only other veteran who would fit that category.
But now those plans could be out the window with Brown's sudden injury.
The injury to Brown also could potentially leave Temple without its two most dangerous guards for a significant period of time as sophomore Trey Lowe is still recovering from injuries suffered in a single-car accident in New Jersey in March. There is still no indication as to when Lowe could be ready to return to the court.
The potential absences of Brown and Lowe could lead to more significant roles for sophomore Shawn Alston, Jr. (2.3 points per game in 10.8 minutes of action a night last season) and incoming freshman and three-star recruit Alani Moore.
Brown, a 6-foot-3 Newark, New Jersey native, played in all 33 games for the Owls last season and averaged 8.3 points, 4.9 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game in 36.2 minutes per night, the highest average playing time of any player in the American Athletic Conference. His 3.50 assist-to-turnover ratio was best in the AAC and tied for eighth in the entire country.
Brown's signature moment last season came when he hit a game-winning floater in the dying seconds that enabled Temple to pull off an upset at No. 23 Connecticut in January. He also led the Owls with 16 points in their heartbreaking overtime loss to Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.