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Shin issue to sideline Mississippi State freshman forward two months

Ben Howland, Oliver Black

Ben Howland

AP

As part of his first press conference of the new school year, Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland announced that one of his freshman will be sidelined for health reasons. Freshman forward Joe Struggs, who enrolled at Mississippi State in August, won’t be available to the team for the next two months due to a bone issue in both of his shins according to the Clarion-Ledger.

Given the timeline provided by Howland on Thursday, Struggs would be back in time for the start of the regular season if everything goes according to plan with his recovery. However, for a team that doesn’t have a lot of depth in the front court Struggs’ injury takes away another option for competition in the weeks leading up to the start of practices in early October and the regular season in November.

Struggs’ injury is the latest that Mississippi State’s had to deal with, as Louisiana Tech transfer Xavian Stapleton (he had to sit out this upcoming season anyway) was lost to a torn ACL last month and three other players underwent surgery this offseason with big man Fallou Ndoye (right wrist) being one of those three.

For a team that doesn’t have a lot of depth inside, with senior Gavin Ware being their most productive option, another injury doesn’t help matters as Mississippi State looks to turn things around in the SEC.