Alterique Gilbert to miss remainder of 2017-2018 season

UConn has confirmed that point guard Alterique Gilbert will miss the rest of this season and likely undergo surgery for his injured left shoulder, the same shoulder which he injured in the 2016 Jordan Brand Classic and early in the 2016-2017 season.

Gilbert has displayed an enticing combination of defensive effort and offensive playmaking ability which would greatly help the UConn Huskies if he could stay on the court for a season. The redshirt freshman played well this season, hitting double-digit scoring in three of his five starts. He injured his shoulder against Michigan State in the PK80 Tournament and tried to play in the next game against Arkansas but left that one early and hasn’t suited up since. UConn kept saying he was day-to-day until making this announcement. Gilbert’s orthopedic surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, anticipates the former McDonald’s All-American will make a complete recovery in time for the start of next season.

This is not a huge surprise, as Gilbert’s injury history is well known and he’d already been out for six games. This news going official means we know that UConn will be depending on Jalen Adams, Christian Vital, and Antwoine Anderson at guard and the only possibility of this team getting any help would be from Sid Wilson’s transfer eligibility waiver going through, which I wouldn’t hold my breath on.

Kevin Ollie’s squad is in action next against No. 8 Wichita State on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. at the XL Center.