Archive: September, 2010
Temple and Villanova are ranked in the top 25 by the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Villanova is ranked sixth and Temple is ranked 24th. It is the first preseason ranking for Temple since the 2001-02 season. The Owls are the three-time defending Atlantic 10 Conference champions. The top five: 1) Duke; 2) Michigan State; 3) Ohio State; 4) Pittsburgh; 5) Purdue.
Villanova freshman guard James Bell had successful surgery Wednesday in which metal rods were inserted from the knee to the ankle in both legs to deal with stress fractures of his tibias.
He remains sidelined for an undetermined length of time.
“James has had chronic stress fractures that have been bothering him for as long as a year-and-a-half,” said Villanova team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Rob Good, who performed the surgery. “The fractures hadn’t responded to the non-operative treatment the way we would have liked and the concern was that if we didn’t address these fractures surgically, they could become complete fractures ... The rods will do two things: stimulate new healing around the fractures and stabilize the tibia. The surgery went well and we’re optimistic we can get those fractures to heal.”
La Salle, Saint Joseph’s and Temple have plenty of tournament teams on their schedule this college basketball season.
La Salle will play 14 teams that reached the postseason last year, Saint Joseph’s will play 15 opponents that reached the postseason and Temple will play 16 that reached the postseason.
The Owls, the three-time defending Atlantic 10 champion, will have at least 10 nationally televised games. One is at defending national champion Duke on Feb. 23
