Clemson’s men’s basketball program continues to hold out hope that its star player will return from his latest injury sooner rather than later, though Brad Brownell isn’t making any promises.
PJ Hall is just a few days into his latest stint of rehabilitation. The Tigers’ rising junior center underwent surgery last week on a dislocated kneecap in his right knee, an injury Brownell described as more of the freak variety that happened during a recent practice.
“He was guarding the ball, but it wasn’t like a contact situation,” Brownell said Tuesday. “He just kind of went down. It was kind of a controlled drill, if you want to call it that.”
Clemson, which is preparing to play some international competition in France next month as part of a foreign tour, was hoping to get Hall back at full strength this month following the foot fracture he dealt with all of last season. Hall had surgery to repair that this spring.
But the 6-foot-10, 240-pounder’s latest setback means Hall will likely be out of action until November at the earliest. Clemson has yet to announce its full non-conference schedule for the 2022-23 season, but the college basketball season annually begins early that month.
Asked if there’s a chance that Hall is available for the Tigers’ season opener, Brownell didn’t want to do much prognosticating.
“There’s hope, but I don’t know how realistic it is,” Brownell said. “I think it’s way too early to get into all that speculation. I think that’s for trainers, doctors, PJ and how well he responds to everything. There’s hope it could be the first game, but it could not be until December. I don’t know when it will be. We’re not really worrying about that right now.”
Hall, one of three returning starters for the Tigers, was one of the most improved players in the ACC as a sophomore last season, averaging a team-best 15.5 points and 5.8 rebounds.
