Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Marquette guard Todd Mayo undergoes surgery on left knee

Todd Mayo, Brian Oliver

Marquette’s Todd Mayo, right, drives on Seton Hall’s Brian Oliver during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

AP

With Vander Blue’s decision to leave school early and enter the 2013 NBA Draft, there’s an opportunity for a number of players in the Marquette perimeter rotation to earn more playing time in 2013-14.

One of those candidates is expected to be junior Todd Mayo, but his path to more playing time hit a bump in the road Wednesday as the school announced that he underwent surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee.

According to Marquette, Mayo is expected to be 100% in time for the start of the 2013-14 season. But instead of spending time in the weight room and on the practice court working to earn an increase in minutes (Mayo averaged 14.1 minutes per game in 2012-13), Mayo will spend his time rehabbing.

The question now is just how far that will put him behind his teammates in the competition for a spot in head coach Buzz Williams’ rotation.

Derrick Wilson and Jake Thomas, who considered transferring earlier this summer before deciding to remain at Marquette, are the other uppeclassmen at the two guard spots with three talented freshmen joining the ranks as well. Duane Wilson, John Dawson and JaJuan Johnson will also compete for minutes, and all three are capable of earning prominent spots in the rotation.

With the influx of talent arriving on campus (don’t forget forwards Deonte Burton and Jameel McKay), as well as returnees such as Jamil Wilson and centers Davante Gardner and Chris Otule, the Golden Eagles should be one of the early favorites in the Big East this season.

Today’s news represents the second consecutive offseason in which Mayo has dealt with a setback of some sort. Last year he was declared academically ineligible just days before Marquette’s scheduled season opener against Ohio State (that game was cancelled), returning to the program in late-December.

The month-plus away from the program resulted in a drop in minutes (Mayo averaged 21.1 mpg as a freshman), with Mayo posting averages of 5.3 points and 1.2 rebounds per game on a team that reached the Elite Eight.

Follow @raphiellej