Everyone pray that Kyle can play, because I can't think of too much worse than having an outstanding season like he's had and not be able to play in this game because of a couple knocks to the head. Anybody else think our players should start wearing helmets to practice?
Whatever supernatural force it is that has decided James Madison's basketball team will not be fully healthy this season - thanks, in part, to an uncommon bout of dizzy spells - apparently doesn't care that it's Senior Night.
Senior swingman Kyle Swanston likely won't play in the Dukes' final regular-season home game today against first-place Virginia Commonwealth at the Convocation Center. JMU coach Matt Brady said Swanston "banged" his head a few times in Saturday's game against Gardner-Webb, then again in Monday's practice.
"Kyle has had some spells of dizziness," Brady said Tuesday. "I don't know if they're calling it a concussion, but they feel he's symptomatic of it. I've been told it's very unlikely that he's going to play."
If Swanston sits out today's game, Brady plans to start freshman Andrey Semenov - who earlier this month suffered his own brush with dizziness - at small forward alongside guards Pierre Curtis and Ben Louis and forwards Julius Wells and Juwann James. That makes the bench shorter, of course, with freshman point guard Devon Moore already out with sprained ligaments in his left wrist.
"Dazz [Thornton] will come off the bench," Brady said. "Matt Parker may play. Heiden [Ratner] will play. Scooter [Renkin] has a chance to play. We'll see. I'll play it by ear and see what the lineup looks like and who can help us as the game progresses."
Shifting players around and playing shorthanded is nothing new for this group, of course. Curtis is the only Duke to start every game. JMU players have missed a combined 42 games due to injury, and yet Madison is still 18-11 overall, 9-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association.
But this injury carries more emotional significance.
Swanston has been with JMU since the program's darkest days. The Dukes went 5-23 during his freshman season in 2005-06, matching the 1985-86 team for the worst record in school history, and 7-23 in his sophomore year. Last year's squad lost 14 of its final 18 games after opening with a 9-3 record. Toward the end of the season Dean Keener, the coach who recruited Swanston and coached him for three years, resigned.
Through it all, Swanston has established himself as one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in JMU history. The 6-foot-7, 180-pounder ranks fourth all-time at the school with 190 career 3-pointers, and his 38.4 career percentage ranks seventh.
So far this year, he's third on the team in scoring with 12.1 points per game and leads the CAA in 3-pointers made with 79. That's helped Madison post a winning season for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign.
Regardless of whether they can win without him, the Dukes certainly wanted him to have a proper farewell game at the Convo.
"For a person that's been here through four years and seen some tough years, and then have a good year and not be able to play on this night, it's going to be tough," Louis said.
Said Brady: "It's certainly not how anybody would draw it up. You want to go out in a blaze of glory in your last game at home as a senior, and hopefully hit the game-winning shot. It doesn't seem likely that that storybook ending is going to be written tomorrow night."
If Swanston doesn't play, he will be one of two seniors who will be honored in street clothes. Senior guard Abdulai Jalloh has been out since December with a shoulder injury.
The one senior who will be available, though, has put together a career worthy of a gaudy ceremony. James - who fainted during a game in late January and missed several others because of a heart ailment - ranks seventh on JMU's all-time scoring list with 1,391 and seventh in rebounds with 617. The 2005-06 CAA Rookie of the Year is one of just two Madison players, along with Eugene Atkinson, to post at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists and 100 steals in his career.
This season, he leads the team with 15.2 points per game, and though he's missed 11 games, he has a chance to earn All-CAA honors.
"He's a terrific ambassador for JMU basketball and he's had a remarkable career," Brady said. "...I feel like I'm a much better basketball coach knowing that he's leading this team, and I always know that he's going to play his heart out."
Now for the good news! After further examination, it seems Devon Moore's wrist injury may have just been a very bad bruise. His appointment has been moved to Monday (as opposed to next Wednesday) where they will take another look at it. If they say it's okay, he will be cleared to play. Those couple extra practice days before the CAA tournament could be crucial. It seems the injury is closer to his thumb, and is on his left hand, so even with some pain he should be fine with most of his dribbling, shooting, and other motions.
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