I have to admit, I did see this one coming- just a little bit. I heard whispers about it last year, and could see early signs of while at media row of the 2010 Final Four.
Michigan State University senior forward Delvon Roe has decided to end his time with the Spartans basketball team due to degenerative knee pain. Roe will remain on scholarship and is on track to graduate in May 2012. And given the world of pain I would continually see him play through at close proximity on numerous occassions, I can’t say I blame him.
And as a life-long sufferer of chronic hyper-mobility of the patella- I’m with you brother!
“This is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,” Roe said in a statement.
“It feels that I’ve been playing through pain throughout my career at MSU, but the daily grind of basketball – the running, cutting, jumping – has finally taken its toll given the intensity required to play at our level. I started playing basketball because I loved the game, but the pain has taken that away and forced me to always think about just getting through the next few minutes or the next game. I don’t want to just `get through’ anymore. I’ve played on a leg and a half for most of my career, and that’s not fair to my teammates as they go through the daily grind.”
Before his knee injuries began during his senior year in high school, Roe was considered a lock to become McDonald’s All-American. There were thoughts of him becoming a one-and-done; doing his college basketball at either State or UNC.
Well, the knee problems have only gotten worse and now that Roe is done hooping in East Lansing, it’s looking like he may have more of a future in Hollywood. He won’t be going to “the league.”
If you ever watched any State game the past couple of years, you might have noticed a certain Shakespearean clip playing over and over during telecasts. Whenever Delvon Roe was mentioned, they cut away to a shot of him acting in “As You Like it” at MSU. In that production, Roe played Charles the Wrestler. This summer he landed a gig opposite Friday Night Lights” hottie Aimee Teegarden.
In this movie, he’ll play a former football player named Issac.
Roe will get paid $20,000 for the gig, as he beat out the big dude from “The Blind Side,” the only other person to audition for the role.
So maybe the show-biz thing will work out for Roe?
He was a warrior and three-year starter during his time at the Breslin Center. Sure, he wasn’t averaging double-figures in either scoring or rebounding, but he was a force on the defensive end. His absence leaves a HUGE hole in the State front line, and it will no doubt be filled by the steady stream of big white oafs Tom Izzoe always recruits. So look for more minutes from the Adam Ballinger-Drew Naymick-Goran Suton variety players.
Here’s Izzo’s blanket statement for the media on the situation:
“We’ve built our program at Michigan State on toughness, and I’ve never had a player who played through more pain than Delvon. I feel bad for Delvon, because I know how much basketball means to him. It’s a shame that most Spartans never got to see the player I recruited. And yet he found a way to contribute and be a valuable part of two Final Fours and Big Ten Championships just by his will and desire. Last year, he unselfishly reinvented himself into a defensive stopper that the team needed. For him to call it a career at this time shows the severity of his pain.”
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
He does regular weekly radio spots in Chicago and Cleveland and has appeared on live shows all across the world from Houston to New Zealand. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too