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Jack suffers foot injury, out 3-4 months for RU

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After enrolling early in 2010, Rutgers men’s basketball freshman Kadeem Jack found out he must wait longer to make his first career appearance for the Scarlet Knights.

Jack will have surgery on his right foot this week after he suffered an injury Friday in a preseason workout, head coach Mike Rice announced.

The surgery requires a three- or four-month recovery period.

“Kadeem has worked extremely hard in preparation for the season,” Rice said. “He will remain very much involved in all team activities and we look forward to his complete recovery.”

Jack’s absence leaves the Knights with only Gilvydas Biruta and Austin Johnson as returning frontcourt players.

Johnson earned a spot starting in Big East play last season, but saw most of his time off the Knights’ bench in a reserve role. Biruta earned Big East All-Rookie honors a year ago, but he begins the season without Jack, who was a viable candidate to start.

Rutgers lost forward Jonathan Mitchell to graduation in May, and the 6-foot-9, 218-pound Jack figured to enter the starting equation.

In his place, freshmen Derrick Randall and Greg Lewis should earn significant minutes in the Knights’ frontcourt rotation.

Randall was Rice’s first commitment in the heralded Class of 2011, and Lewis was the last before Mike Taylor’s academic issues opened the door for freshman Eli Carter.

Jack enrolled at Rutgers mid-year in 2011 after spending less than a semester at South Kent (Conn.), where Randall prepped the 2010-11 season.

He began practicing with the Knights on Dec. 26, and participated in team activities through Rutgers’ loss to St. John’s in the Big East Tournament.

Jack played the remainder of the fall at Central Jersey Each One Teach One Academy before he first arrived in Piscataway for the start of the 2011 spring semester.

The Rice High School (N.Y.) product was the Knights’ third commit from their 2011 recruiting class. Point guard Myles Mack committed to Rutgers the following day.

Jack’s early arrival forced a re-classification, and he became part of Rice’s 2010 class. Rivals.com originally ranked him the No. 33 overall recruit in 2011.

The remaining six-member Class of 2011 ranked 24th nationally without Jack, according to Rivals.com.


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