EUGENE — The top-ranked recruit in Oregon men’s basketball history played just nine games for the Ducks.
Freshman center Bol Bol confirmed Thursday afternoon that he will not play again for the school because of a foot injury. The news was first reported earlier in the day by 247Sports.com.
“Playing for my dream school under my favorite Coach Altman has been the Best part of my life and sadly it has come to end sooner than I would have Like but thank you for all those who rocking with me and all Oregon fans,” Bol posted on Twitter.
Oregon has not confirmed Bol’s status in the program. Coach Dana Altman was scheduled to speak with the media Friday in advance of opening Pac-12 play at 5 p.m. Saturday against Oregon State at Matthew Knight Arena.
Bol last played for the Ducks on Dec. 12 when he had 20 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots in a 65-55 win over San Diego. Bol showed no signs of injury and spoke with local media for the first time following the game.
“I’m just working with my team and coaches in practice, working on a lot of stuff,” Bol said during a postgame interview.
Three days later, he was ruled out of Oregon’s home game against Boise State with what Altman said was a lower leg injury, but the coach declined to say how or when it occurred. Last week, Altman said Bol was still being evaluated before he missed his fourth straight game in the rematch at Boise State on Saturday.
Bryan J. Freedman, Bol’s attorney, released a statement to ESPN confirming that Bol had surgery Thursday to repair a non-displaced fracture of the navicular bone in his foot. He is expected to begin rehab next week and use crutches or a boot for eight to 10 weeks before he plays basketball again in the summer.
“Bol had been treating this injury wearing a walking boot for the past few weeks and although his foot pain completely resolved, repeated imaging studies revealed that the fracture was healing very slowly,” the statement said. “At surgery, 2 screws were inserted into the navicluar bone and bone graft from his pelvis was added to speed up the healing which will expedite his return to play.”
The 7-foot-2 Bol was a five-star recruit ranked as a consensus top-five player in his class out of Findlay Prep in Nevada.
Bol leads the Ducks with 21.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots per game. He shot 56.1 percent from the field, including 13-for-25 on three-pointers.
From the moment he signed with Oregon, Bol was expected to play just one college season before declaring for the NBA draft, where he’s projected to be an early first-round pick.
Bol is not expected remain in Eugene or enroll in classes at Oregon when winter term begins Monday and instead turn pro immediately to rehab and prepare for the draft.
“Appreciate the time we had on & off the court,” UO sophomore Kenny Wooten tweeted at Bol. “Good luck on the rest of your journey.”
Bol and five-star forward Louis King were part of Oregon’s top recruiting class in school history, but played just two games together after King missed the start of the season while recovering from knee surgery.
