Men’s basketball forward Jerome Burney will miss the season due to “ongoing foot injuries,” according to an athletics department release Friday. It likely spells the end of an injury-marred Terp career for the 6-foot-9, 222-pound forward from Georgia.
A bad foot cost Burney his freshman season, but he bounced back to appear in 17 games two years ago. Last season, he played in just nine games for a team that sorely needed front court depth before being shut down with more foot problems. Just two weeks before the opening of practice, it seems things haven’t gotten any better.
The Terps have bolstered their front court for the upcoming season with a pair of incoming freshmen in James Padgett and Jordan Williams, but Burney, who has shown flashes of potential as a shot blocker and rebounder when healthy, had the chance to contribute if he was at 100 percent.
According to the release, Burney, who is on pace to graduate with a kinesiology degree in May, will remain associated with the team.
“Jerome is very much a part of this team even though he won’t be playing this year,” Williams said in the release. “We feel badly for Jerome that he never had the chance to be the college basketball we all felt he could be because of his injuries.”
Eric Detweiler is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Men’s Basketball Team beat writer. He can be reached at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edetweiler.