Vanderbilt freshman Darius Garland, one of the prized jewels of Bryce Drew's heralded top-15 ranked 2018 signing class, sustained a knee injury on Friday during the Commodores' contest against Kent State. Vandy would go on to lose a stunner, 77-75.
Garland was driving to the basket in the opening minutes of the game when he got bumped in the air and landed awkwardly. He left the game and did not return.
Vanderbilt is doing more testing in the coming days to see if there's more that can be known about the timeline of the injury. Early testing has revealed he suffered a left meniscus injury, sidelining him for an indefinite amount of time.
"He's going to get some further testing tonight. Hopefully, we get some good news in the next 48 hours," Drew said on Friday. "We will obviously be careful with his injury. He obviously has a bright future in basketball, and we just want to make sure we give him the best care we can for him to figure out what's the plan of attack."
Drew told CBS Sports' Matt Norlander on Saturday that Garland is shaken up about going down in the game, but Drew and the staff are planning to prudently map out a recovery timeline as soon as more information becomes available.
"He wants to play, he just loves playing. He's just devastated over that," Drew said. "He hates losing, so knowing he could have made a big difference in the game, that hurts him even more. Until we get more information, there will be a lot of uneasiness. Once we can get everything mapped out and a plan for recovery, things will start to feel a little better."
Garland is the No. 15 overall player in my 2019 NBA Draft prospect rankings. In a recent mock draft, CBS Sports Insider Gary Parrish pegged him as a top-6 pick because of the combination of his excellent handles and scoring ability. He's a terrific prospect that was emerging as the top ball-handler in the upcoming draft -- and in a crop of talent that is lacking at his position.
With Garland out indefinitely, Saben Lee and Max Evans, neither of which plays natural point guard, will share the point guard spot in Garland's stead.