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After 49 days in jail, Zay Jackson’s return to Murray State ends in injury

NCAA Basketball Tournament - Murray State v Marquette

LOUISVILLE, KY - MARCH 17: Zay Jackson #10 of the Murray State Racers goes up for a shot in front of Jae Crowder #32 of the Marquette Golden Eagles in the first half during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at KFC YUM! Center on March 15, 2012 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

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Zay Jackson’s return to the court this season lasted all of four days.

The sophomore guard tore the ACL and the LCL in his right knee in practice on Saturday after coming down awkwardly following a dunk. He is scheduled to have surgery in a couple of weeks, once the swelling in his knee goes down.

“He was our best offensive and defensive player,” head coach Steve Prohm said. “But what he can do is he can help the younger guys, he can teach the younger guys. He can be kind of like an assistant coach, he’s got a great IQ , and great feel for the game. Big things are in store for him, he’ll do a great job helping build these guys up, he’ll travel with us, he’ll be apart of our team one-hundred percent.”

Jackson sat out all of last season after an ugly off-the-court incident in which he tried to run down a man with his car in a Walmart parking lot. Jackson and the man had had a verbal disagreement, and after Jackson had gotten into his car, he drove into the man and continued for several hundred feet with the man on his hood. You can watch the wild video here.

Jackson spent 49 days in jail as a result, but he was set to return to the team and play a major role in replacing Isaiah Canaan this season.

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