PITTSBURGH — Pitt is looking to get one of its leaders back in action in the next couple of games.
Damian Dunn has been sidelined since late November after receiving thumb surgery for a dislocated thumb. He injured his thumb on a fall against Wisconsin in a Pitt game at The Greenbrier, and has been out since. However, before Pitt’s game on Saturday, Dunn took the floor for warmups for the first time since the injury, and shot around with his teammates. After the game, Jeff Capel provided an official update on Dunn’s status ahead of the highly-anticipated matchup against Duke on Tuesday, Jan. 7 in Durham, North Carolina.
“Could be, could be,” Capel said. “We’ll know for sure on Monday. He’ll see the doctor again on Monday, and we’ll have a better idea on Monday, but he’s getting close, so it could be.”
Capel said that Dunn could not have played against Stanford. He did not play.
“He just wanted to warm up,” Capel added. “He’s been chomping at the bit and he’s been able to do some more stuff in practice, still has not done any live contact, offensive stuff, but he’s done stuff defensively, he’s done all of our skill-work stuff, so he’s getting back into the rhythm of it. He asked me yesterday, could he go through warmups. I thought that was a great sign. So, we’ll see.”
Just two minutes into Pitt’s game against Wisconsin at The Greenbrier, Dunn jumped up in the air and found Jaland Lowe across the court with a pass. On his way down, Dunn turned his left ankle, spraining it. In addition, Dunn dislocated his thumb during the play.
After staying down for a bit, Dunn was helped to his feet by Pitt’s training staff. He left the game and did not return. He underwent surgery in the days following the game.
Dunn was averaging 13 points per game for Pitt this year before the game in which he was injured. He was a key piece to the Panthers’ 6-0 start to the year. He had started each game for Pitt up to that point in the regular season.
Dunn came to Pittsburgh after a lengthy career at Temple followed by a one-season stint at Houston.
Dunn is a 6-foot-5 guard who averaged 6.4 points per game last season for the Cougars, shooting 36% from the field and 32% from three-point range. Prior to last season at Houston, he spent four years at Temple, averaging at least 13 points per game in each of his three seasons of action. In his final season with the Owls, Dunn started 20 games and averaged a career-best 15.3 points per game. He hit a career-high 48 three pointers that year, shooting 35% from downtown.
