LSU forward Daimion Collins injury update, recovery timetable
LSU hosts Florida State on Tuesday night in the PMAC in the SEC/ACC Challenge, but on Friday night after the Tigers’ win over Northwestern State, head coach Matt McMahon gave an update on his redshirt junior forward Daimion Collins.
Collins suffered a shoulder injury in LSU’s trip to West Virginia going up for a dunk but came down in pain and did not return to the game.
“Daimion, as everyone saw, suffered a dislocated shoulder against Pittsburgh,” McMahon said. “Testing is complete and it has been very encouraging talking with doctors. It does not require surgery at this time, so he’s been in rehab this week. I’m not sure on the timetable of when we will get him back, but we do expect to have him back this season. That was his first fear after what happened to him a year ago. It was very encouraging results we got back after the injury.”
The positive news for LSU is that Collins is not out for the season, however, he is still expected to miss significant time after being a key contributor for the Tigers in the first five games of the year. Collins’ incredible athleticism allowed him to be the best shot blocker on the team and a reliable lob threat near the basket on offense.
In five games., Collins was averaging nearly 17 minutes with five points and 4.2 rebounds on 55.6 percent shooting. Collins also had seven blocks in the small sample size and has an 8.2 block percentage which is top 70 in the nation.
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“He has been incredibly valuable to our team. He does a lot of things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. Not only his shot blocking, but the shots that he changes. He’s terrific in ball screen coverage, he’s so fast and athletic, he puts a lot of pressure on the rim, so we need him back on the court. He had a great offseason and we’ll remain optimistic.”
Without Collins, LSU has turned more towards senior Derek Fountain and redshirt freshman Corey Chest to help Jalen Reed in the frontcourt. McMahon has also sprinkled in four-guard lineups to help get the offense a spark during games. The Tigers remain a top 40 defense on Kenpom while ranking 59th in offense, and they will put those numbers to the test on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the PMAC against Florida State.
With two quality wins already this year over Kansas State and UCF, LSU hopes to continue to show progress as it builds its resume for March despite losing one of their key big men for an indefinite period of time.
“You’ve seen the emergence of Corey here. the numbers stand out on the glass but his defensive impact has been huge. We have to move some responsibilities around with Daimion out because he’s been playing the five position for us. Rob and Derek will have to carry more responsibilities there and then you also saw Dji bailey at the four with the four guard lineup. We have to look at multiple solutions as we look forward to getting Daimion back down the road.”
