PITTSBURGH — Pitt senior forward Ryan Luther had the stress reaction injury in his right foot re-evaluated on Wednesday and he did not get a favorable result.
“Not great,” Pitt head coach Kevin Stallings said after the Panthers’ 87-52 loss to Duke on Wednesday evening. “I just talked to the doctors before I came in. I’ll find out more in the morning. But it wasn’t what I was hoping for.”
Stallings had earlier dismissed the idea of a medical redshirt for Luther, who is on his final year of eligibility. But now it seems that concept will be reconsidered. Luther played 10 games this season before missing the last seven, which would be right at the line for being eligible for a medical hardship waiver.
Luther is averaging a double-double and is still the team’s leading scorer and rebounder on a per-game basis.
Pitt currently has two players signed for the recruiting Class of 2018 — Hagerstown, Maryland power forwards Bryce Golden and Southern Idaho junior college guard Danya Kingsby. Beside Luther, there are only two other seniors on Pitt’s current roster: point guard Jonathan Milligan and shooting guard Monty Boykins.
The lack of available scholarships would mean that a medical redshirt for Luther could effectively close Pitt’s recruiting for next season. It sounds like that is a real possibility.
“I’ll have to talk to (team trainer and executive athletic director Tony Salesi) later tonight and tomorrow and talk to Ryan about what we’ve heard,” Stallings said. “We’ll try to figure out what the best approach will be.”
In Luther’s absence, Pitt’s young frontcourt has struggled. Terrell Brown and Peace Ilegomah were averaging a combined 3.7 points per game this year coming into the Duke game and have made strides, but Pitt continues to be dominated in the frontcourt.
Against the Blue Devils, they were out-rebounded, 39-32 and outscored in the paint, 40-26.
