Daniel Jacobsen injury: Matt Painter shares unfortunate news for Purdue center’s future
Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter revealed that star center Daniel Jacobsen will miss out on the rest of his freshman season due to a fractured right tibia. The 7-foot-4 big man was an integral part of how Purdue wanted to approach this season.
However, the update will now force Painter to dissect a different strategy for the year. It will also change the Boilermakers’ chances in the Big Ten.
"He has a fractured tibia and he'll get surgery on Wednesday. So he'll be out indefinitely," Painter said.
"You don't want to say, you know, it's definitely the year [recovery time for Jacobsen] or whatever but I would think so. I would like it to be around two to four months but I think it's probably closer to four to six months."
Daniel Jacobsen’s injury came during the initial minutes of Purdue’s game against Northern Kentucky on Friday. The center was battling to settle into the post when a blow to his shin sent him to the floor.
The big was quickly helped up by his teammates and assisted to the locker room. While he reappeared during the Boilermakers’ 72-50 win, he was seen icing his injured leg and walking off crutches. At the time, the staff was hoping his injury to be just a bone bruise.
Matt Painter shares plan for Daniel Jacobsen
According to Painter, Daniel Jacobsen will appeal to medically redshirt for his freshman year, which will give him four more years at the collegiate level after the current season.
Moreover, the coach also aims to make the most of the youngster’s extended time. While the coach wants him to commit to his rehab right away, he also wants him to scout the NCAA by watching opposing players, films and matchups, albeit while staying positive.
"Now you just want to be positive and dive into his rehab and try to learn as much as you can through watching others and watching film and just the competitions that come our way," Painter said.
"As you watch and hopefully learn the best by doing it. But also so you got to try to find a silver lining in something like this and get healthy and get stronger and just keep working." (1:10)
Daniel Jacobsen posted a promising 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in his debut on Nov. 4 in a 90-73 win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.