Notre Dame Basketball: Is DJ Harvey’s Sophomore Season In Jeopardy?
Notre Dame basketball Coach Mike Brey speaks candidly about sophomore DJ Harvey’s knee injury.
On the Marching to Madness podcast with Blake Lovell and Ken Anderson on Thursday, Notre Dame basketball head coach Mike Brey talked specifically about the knee injury that DJ Harvey suffered during his freshman campaign. Coach confirmed that Harvey did indeed undergo microfracture surgery and will not be with the team on their trip to the Bahamas. He also mentioned that Harvey had a good chance of being available for team activities in October.
There are, however, whispers of a possible red shirt and Harvey taking his time with his rehab to ensure a full recovery and a productive career. The young man has the potential for a professional career after his time at Notre Dame.
Harvey, a five-star recruit from the 2017-18 class, suffered a bone bruise in January which cost him the remainder of the season. He figured to be a high impact player for the upcoming 2018-19 season.
Microfracture surgery has become the new feared diagnosis for basketball players, similar to the way a torn ACL was 15 years ago. NBA stars Amar’e Stoudemire and Antonio McDyess both suffered the injury and had mixed results with their comebacks. The injury essentially ended Stoudemire’s career, while McDyess was able to carve out a niche in his return, albeit in a bench role.
The most recent example is former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden. The once dominant big man underwent the surgery prior to his NBA career getting started and was never the same. The procedure has become a last resort, given how inconsistent it tends to be in actually resolving issues and getting players back on the court.
Early results of the procedure can be seen here with NBA players of the past.
A promising prospect coming into his freshman season, DJ struggled a bit early on in 2017-18. He did score 18 points in his first big opportunity after the Bonzie Colson injury, but was lost for the season shortly after and wasn’t able to capitalize the momentum from that game.
He appeared in 19 games for the Irish, starting in 5 and averaged a shade under 6 points and 3 rebounds per game in 18 minutes.
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The possibility of a redshirt also creates an interesting issue with roster make up. If Harvey does indeed redshirt and becomes a sophomore next year, that would make six Notre Dame players graduating in 2022.