Porter Moser says Hugley out; Soares day-to-day for OU
It has been a week off the court for OU basketball, but it’s not all good news for the Sooners. Head coach Porter Moser announced Thursday night John Hugley will be out indefinitely after undergoing meniscus surgery earlier this week.
Rivaldo Soares, who missed last weekend with a left ankle injury, is day-to-day, said Moser on Sooner Sports Talk with play-by-play announcer Toby Rowland.
“John, we went ahead and he got the surgery on his meniscus,” Moser said. “John is definitely out. But it was a great surgery, everything went well. We’ll see. We’re keeping the door open that he’ll return.
“And Waldo is going to be day-by-day. We just don’t know yet. He’s tougher than nails. He wants to get out there. He actually tried to get out there the other night, had to send him to the locker room. He’s going to be day-by-day. We’ll see – every day it gets a little bit better. We’ll see if it’s strong enough to go Saturday.”
OU is still solidly in the NCAA tournament field right now at 18-8 overall and 6-7 in the conference. But this final five-game stretch is brutal.
It begins Saturday in Stillwater for the second installment of Bedlam against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys, who were once 0-6 in conference play, have won two games in a row and three in a row at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
If there’s any good news, it’s that OU has now had time to prepare for what’s going on. More time to get Luke Northweather more confidence and what he is being asked to do. More time for someone perhaps like Kaden Cooper to get focused and ready for a big moment.
You could tell the news wasn’t all that great for Hugley. But Soares? He’s going to keep fighting. Heck, he was even doing that last Saturday before Moser told him to put on street clothes.
“Said he never missed a game at any level in his life,” said Moser last Saturday. “Gets his uniform on and he’s down there warming up and I’m like, Waldo. So an hour before the game he was down there, fully suited up. And he was trying to go. He had the trainer down there and he was trying to go and playing and I’m like, ‘go get your street clothes on.’
“He really wanted to go and he just was bout 50-60 percent and I was just not going to do that to him. It’s just not worth it to me. I would never put him in jeopardy. So his progress has been great these three days. Now he’s got a week off.”
Soares is averaging eight points and five rebounds per game. But he had been averaging 13 points per game in the last seven contests.
Hugley is averaging 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while shooting just under 55 percent from the field.
