Kendall Marshall's Wrist Injury Fractures His Hopes of Playing in Sweet 16

By Lacy J. Hansen
It was a bitter-sweet win and advancement to the Sweet 16 for the North Carolina Tar Heels last night. The team’s star player, Kendall Marshall, fractured his wrist during the game.
Marshall is referred to as North Carolina’s most indispensable player. He’s had an incredible season serving as the team’s starting point guard. In the NCAA tournament game against Creighton last night, Marshall fractured his right wrist as he was driving to the rim. It happened late in the game and Marshall actually continued playing with the injury.
There’s a reason Marshall is one of the nation’s top point guard – the sophomore scored 18 more points and earned 36 assists as he played another 36 minutes with a broken wrist.
After the Tar Heels claimed victory over Creighton and officially advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament, Marshall showed his first signs of injury. He shook the other team’s hands with his left hand to protect his right. He was immediately taken for evaluation and discussion with his doctor and family.
Coach Roy Rogers reiterated that his wrist was broken and that’s all they knew. Currently Marshall’s status for the NCAA tournament is listed as “unknown.”
It was reported that Marshall did undergo surgery this morning to insert a screw in his fractured right wrist. Dennis Marshall, Kendall’s father, relayed the news and reported that “we are all in good spirits.” Marshall’s status for the next game is still undecided.
What an inspiration to us all. A young, dedicated, and disciplined athlete, giving 110% for the sake of his sport and his team. Even though he didn’t have to, a sad Marshall answered the press’ questions last night while he faced the first injury of his career. He was reported to be teary-eyed as he said, “It’s because we care about each other [that my teammates are somber]. And when one hurts, we all hurt.”
He also commented on the unbreakable superstar spirit that everyone witnessed last night. Apparently, Marshall’s always been a hero for his team.
“And I thought I was the man, because I played the entire game with [a sprained ankle in high school]. I was like, oh, man – this is like some Jordan-type stuff.”
The Tar Heels are set to play the Ohio Bobcats on Friday night whether Marshall can play or not.