A fall in the weight room will cost Ball State junior forward Chris Bond some valuable off-season time to work on his game.
Bond, in an attempt to break his fall, broke two bones in his left forearm and had surgery to implant plates in both bones to help with the healing process.
“He fractured his forearm so they implanted a plate in both the bones in his forearm and everything seemed to go well,” Ball State coach Billy Taylor told Thomas St. Myer of the Muncie Star-Press.
“We expect him back before practice starts (in October). He should be back to full activity before practice.”
Bond averaged 7.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for the Cardinals last season, which Ball State finished with a 15-15 mark (6-10 MAC).
Leading scorer Jarrod Jones and point guard Randy Davis have both graduated, meaning that more is likely expected of Bond on the offensive end of the floor.
The injury definitely hurts from a progression standpoint when it comes to Bond being able to improve offensively, but at least Coach Taylor has some options on the wing should Bond’s recovery take longer than expected.Wing is perhaps the one position Ball State is deep enough to withstand an injury to a starter. Junior Tyler Koch and incoming freshmen Bo Calhoun and Mike Ramey all offer Taylor viable options at the wing.
“We don’t expect (Bond) out long term anyway, but we’ve got a lot of guys who have the versatility to play multiple positions, which is what I like,” Taylor said.
Photo credit: John Kuntz/Cleveland Plain-Dealer
Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.