Miami basketball could rely on freshmen vs. Duke due to injuries

In a pre-game press conference ahead of hosting Duke on Saturday Miami basketball head coach Jim Larranaga stated that starting redshirt junior forward Sam Waardenburg and backup freshman guard Harlond Beverly might not be available against the Blue Devils.

The Miami basketball roster has continued to sustain injuries over the last two seasons. Head coach Jim Larranaga discussed the injuries to starting redshirt junior forward Sam Waardenburg and backup freshman guard Harlond Beverly on Friday in a pre-game press conference to preview Saturday’s game against Duke.

The Hurricanes began the season with 11 scholarship players according to Larranaga. Center Nysier Brooks is redshirting this season after transferring from Cincinnati.  Forward Deng Gak was lost in November with a torn ACL for the second straight season. That brings current scholarship players down to nine.

Larranaga also discussed the need for the Miami basketball team to limit the minutes of graduate transfer Keith Stone in practice and in games. Stone is recovering from his own torn ACL suffered last year playing for Florida. If Waardenburg cannot play on Saturday freshman Anthony Walker will see an increase in minutes.

Waardenburg is averaging 6.8 points per game, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists. Waardenburg apparently suffered an Achilles tendon injury before Saturday’s overtime victory over Clemson. Waardenburg has received treatment for it this week as the Kiwi discussed in a press conference previewing Duke.

"“Yesterday I went and got some acupuncture and dry needling on the Achilles’ tendon…“It’s been about a week, it was a couple days leading up to the Clemson game when it really started flaring up and in that game as well.”"

Walker is averaging 3.2 PPG and 1.8 RPG with nine blocked shots playing an averaging of 12.3 minutes over ten games. The likelihood is that Stone would start with Walker seeing a big jump in minutes due to the time restriction with the former Gator. Larranaga complimented Stone Friday for his impact this season.

The Hurricanes are undefeated since Stone made his Miami debut in early December in a road victory at Illinois. Larranaga praised the athleticism Walker gives the Hurricanes but also stressed the importance of the experience Stone adds on the Miami frontline. The Hurricanes have been a perimeter-oriented team this season.

Beverly has had an outstanding freshman season but Larranaga was unsure if the freshman Michigan native would be available on Saturday. Losing Beverly’s scoring off the bench would likely increase the minutes for starters Chris Lykes, Dejan Vasiljevic and Kameron McGusty. All three played over 40 minutes at Clemson.

Beverly is averaging 7.4 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 2.4 APG. Freshman Isaiah Wong will see a boost in playing time if Beverly is out in addition to the likely increased minutes for Lykes, Vasiljevic and McGusty. Wong is averaging 3.1 PPG and 1.3 RPG. Larranaga discussed the availability of Beverly and Waardenburg.

"”He (Beverly) probably is not going to practice today (Friday) and don’t know if he’ll be available tomorrow…Sam Waardenburg is dealing with an injury. It actually has become more routine to have injured players and to try to figure out how to prepare without a full compliment of guys.”"

Miami went through the 2018-19 season with six or seven scholarship players for most of the year. Sophomore walk-on Willie Herenton earned a scholarship about halfway through last season. Facing Duke shorthanded will be a huge challenge for the Hurricanes. A sold-out Watsco Center will help.