Chris Clarke Out Indefinitely with Foot Injury

Tyrone.........Outlaw?

I've had this injury (Jones fracture) on both feet, the right one when in my twenties, and my left one 25 years later. No surgery on the one in my twenties, took 12 weeks to be back in a regular shoe, and the doctor told me no sports for 6 weeks after that. The one that happened more recently screwed me up permanently: they did the surgery (inserted a screw to hold the bones together and injected bone graft material). About 4 weeks after being given the green light for PT (about 8 weeks post-op), I re-broke the bone, breaking the screw off in the bone. After that I was screwed, because it is difficult/traumatic to remove both broken screw pieces. It's an area of the foot that doesn't get much blood flow. I now have permanent nerve damage from scar tissue and after nearly a year of non-weight-bearing I could at least walk in regular shoes. Still have the broken screw in there, nearly 5 years later.

This is the same injury that sidelined Danny Coale in Dallas Cowboys training camp.

My points are: 1) it's a tough injury but the younger you are the easier / better your recovery, and 2) everyone is different so it's difficult to predict exactly when he can play again; basketball is very stressful on that 5th metatarsal. At least 8 to 12 weeks post-op is a reasonable expectation.

According to this release in Feb 2014, Clarke would still be eligible for a medical hardship waiver for this season. Clarke only played in 11-12 contests so far, and we have 19 contests remaining on the schedule, not including the Conference Championship so we are considered to still be in the first half of the season.

To be eligible for a medical hardship waiver, a student-athlete's injury has to occur before the start of the second half of the season. Team and individual sports have different ways of calculating the halfway point of the season. To calculate the halfway point in team sports, institutions add up their scheduled or completed contests up to the maximum, divide by two, and round down if necessary. The question the interp addresses is how to include a conference tournament which may include multiple contests or which the institution might miss entirely:

HERE

Hill is practicing now but there is no timetable set for his return, if at all, this season. Here was Buzz' last tweet regarding Hill:

After 1 week of being released back to practice, @MedHill_13 is trying to show me his bounce is back?!
https://t.co/mrgxukDBRJ— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) December 18, 2015

I dont think its necessary for Hill to play this season if there is any question about his recovery. We are not at a point that we will likely compete for a tournament bid or conference title, so I would rather get three more years of Hill starting next year. Regardless of that, as long as Clarke's injury doesnt play a factor, I trust Buzz to do what he thinks is best for the player and the program in terms of Hill playing.

As for Outlaw, the program has been necessarily hush hush, as my understanding is that there are lawyers involved at this point. Last I heard, we were looking at another Allan Chaney situation: HERE
Most of what I have heard has been from #Sauces but it all points to Outlaw never suiting up for Tech due to whatever the doctors found. Regardless, Outlaw is redshirting this season for medical reasons, so we wont see him in a Hokie uniform at the earliest until next year.