Tuesday, June 26, 2001
UK loses Parker to torn ACL
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky power forward Jason Parker is expected to miss the 2001-2002 season after injuring his knee in a pickup game with teammates Sunday night, school officials said.
The 6-foot-8, 255-pound Parker started all 34 games for Kentucky last season. He was Kentucky's third-leading scorer (8.6 points per game) and its second-leading rebounder (4.7 per game) and was named to the Southeastern Conference all-freshman team.
Parker tore the right anterior cruciate ligament. He will have reconstructive knee surgery next week, sports information director Brooks Downing said. Kentucky athletics trainer David Kindy said he expects a recovery period of four-to-six months.
“This is a very tough loss for us,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. “Jason is a big part of our team, and we were expecting him to make even greater contributions as a sophomore.”
Parker, a Charlotte, N.C., native, was a two-time AP state player of the year in high school. He guided West Charlotte High School to the Class 4A championship his senior season.
He was originally going to play at North Carolina, but a dispute over test scores landed him at Kentucky.
The loss of Parker dents the high expectations for next year's Kentucky squad.
The Wildcats tied for the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship and won the SEC tournament last season. Parker was one of four starters returning after leading scorers Keith Bogans and Tayshaun Prince announced last week they were both withdrawing their names from the NBA draft.
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UK loses Parker to torn ACL
