Injuries may force La Salle to play freshman Stukes now

THE LA SALLE coaching staff's plan has always been to redshirt La Salle High freshman guard Amar Stukes. The plan might have to be altered.

Delaware transfer Khalid Lewis, also a guard, is getting a cast off his injured hand Monday. He has a broken bone and, according to head coach John Giannini, the doctors will have to see whether it's healed and then "see if it looks like he is going to be able to play anytime soon. He may or may not."

Compounding the guard-line issue, starting senior Sam Mills sprained an ankle in last Saturday's scrimmage.

"Those are significant losses, and we're thinking about whether to use Amar this year," Giannini said. "We have to make a decision before the first game [next Saturday against Manhattan]. We want to see how Sam and Khalid progress. It doesn't sound like much, but, if they're out for a couple of weeks, that's seven games. That's almost a quarter of your season."

Stukes played in the scrimmage. He also will play in today's exhibition game against Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2 p.m., Gola Arena, free admission). Freshmen may play in scrimmages and exhibition games without affecting their eligibility. Once they play in a regular-season game, the eligibility clock starts ticking.

"We'll see how everything is next week and make a decision that is best for our team," Giannini said. "We'll figure it out."

The coach wanted to redshirt Stukes because he wanted to give him 4 years as a likely starter, once seniors Tyreek Duren, Tyrone Garland and Mills finish their La Salle careers.

"We're not thinking of redshirting Amar because we don't know how good he is," Giannini said. "We very much know how good he is."

Everybody might find out sooner than expected. A decision will be made within the week.