The Memphis Tigers can ill-afford injuries this late into the season, but forward DJ Jeffries will be out 4-6 weeks with an injury to his PCL. This star-studded class of Tiger’s freshmen was already down their star center James Wiseman. The loss of yet another rotation player is a blow to the roster in a critical part of the season.
DJ Jeffries has a partial tear in his PCL, I’m told. The timetable for his return — as of today — is 4-to-6 weeks.
— John Martin (@JohnMartin929) February 1, 2020
The injury is believed to be fairly severe and could sideline him for the full six weeks. That would put the team into March and potentially after their season has ended. This particular injury could be season-ending for the Memphis forward. The freshman forward was playing phenomenally for head coach Penny Hardaway. He was averaging 10.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. He was also shooting an impressive 51.2 percent from the field and 39 percent from three.
Memphis is currently 16-5 and 5-3 in conference play which puts them at 5th in The American Conference. Jeffries being out only puts more pressure on Precious Achiuwa who has thrived since Wiseman left the team. Lester Quinones is the obvious choice to move into Jeffries’ second scoring position, but the third spot is less clear.
Penny Hardaway has his work cut out for him now that he’s lost his second-star freshman in a single season. The good news is that Jeffries is likely to be back next season, unlike James Wiseman. Jeffries is a former four-star recruit that has thrived in Memphis so far. He could face a favorable recovery and return this year, but the future of that seems unlikely. Memphis has a tough task ahead of them to close out the rest of the season.
