The Minnesota Golden Gophers college basketball program announced that senior point guard Al Nolen will be out indefinitely with a broken bone in his right foot. Nolen suffered the injury Jan. 22 in the first half versus the Michigan Wolverines. Nolen also missed five games (11/29-12/15) this season during the non-conference schedule with a stress reaction in his right foot.
Nolen is scheduled to undergo surgery on Jan. 26 to insert a pin in the foot.
“We will definitely miss the leadership of our senior point guard,” said Gopher head coach Tubby Smith. “We knew that Al was playing with a lot of pain since the previous injury occurred so we are hoping that the procedure will relieve the pain and make it possible for him to return to the lineup by the end of the season. In the meantime, we know that Al will continue to be a leader from the bench.”
Nolen, a Minneapolis native, has appeared in 14 games this season and is averaging a career-high 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 29.1 minutes per game while also contributing 3.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game. He has played in 98 career games (67 starts) for the Maroon & Gold and is currently second all-time in Gopher history with 205 career steals and third all-time on Minnesota’s assist list with 394.
Nolen recorded 64 steals during his freshman and sophomore seasons, the fifth-most in a season in Gopher history. His 32 thefts in conference play in 2007-08 tied him with Quincy Lewis for seventh all-time in Gopher season history. He also dished out 143 assists as a sophomore, seventh most in single-season Gopher history.
Nolen’s season ended prematurely last year as well.