USC basketball: Dewayne Dedmon sidelined with another injury

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USC’s 7-foot sophomore Dewayne Dedmon has suffered a stress injury in his right foot that is expected to sideline him for four to six weeks, the school announced Tuesday.

At first, the injury, which was revealed by an MRI on Monday, was deemed a stress fracture.

But team athletic trainer David Borchardt amended that to note that it is a ‘stress injury’ and that Dedmon will be immobilized for one week in which he’ll wear a walking boot and use crutches before being reassessed.

Generally, Borchardt said an injury of this type could take up to six weeks to heal, but regardless, it’s the second major setback for Dedmon, who suffered a fractured right hand during the preseason.

‘I just look at it like, I’ll be back,’ Dedmon said Tuesday. ‘It’s not like it’s at the end of the season where I can’t finish out the season, but I can hopefully be back before conference.’

USC plays at UC Riverside on Wednesday and at Minnesota on Saturday.

Dedmon, who is averaging 7.7 points and 6.0 rebounds, said he had been feeling pain in his foot early last week and that it intensified during the second half of the Trojans’ win against South Carolina this past weekend.

His absence is a considerable blow for USC.

Dedmon, who began playing organized basketball at the age of 18, was touted as a future NBA lottery pick by USC Coach Kevin O’Neill and at times has lived up to that projection.

‘It affects us greatly,’ O’Neill said. ‘You can’t replace 7-foot, 250 pounds, especially in the situation when we have so many inexperienced guys.’

O’Neill said he’ll start 7-foot-1 junior James Blasczyk in place of Dedmon, play sophomore forward Garrett Jackson more, and possibly play freshman guard Byron Wesley at the power forward position.

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— Baxter Holmes