Auburn Basketball continues preparations for the upcoming season and has stumbled into a bit of a roadblock.
Head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] spoke with the media ahead of Tuesday’s practice and shared that the team has had a recent struggle with the flu. He mentioned that three players were affected, which includes [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Wendell Green[/autotag], and [autotag]Haston Alexander[/autotag]. Green has since returned, while Johnson and Alexander are expected to be out until later in the week.
Pearl also touched base on freshman guard [autotag]Chance Westry[/autotag], who recently had arthroscopic knee surgery alongside Pearl. Westry’s recovery is going well, but his return is still hinging on one factor.
“Chance (Westry) is doing good. We are just trying to get a little bit of swelling out to be able to let him do a little bit more,” Pearl said Tuesday. “That swelling coming out will determine how quickly we can get him back.”
Westry had a great showing during Auburn’s overseas trip to Israel in August by averaging 10.3 points in three games. Pearl says that he was pleased with Westry’s efforts during the summer, but is understandably concerned about the player Westry will be once he returns from injury.
“Chance has pretty much missed the fall. He will be back in let’s just say three more weeks,” Pearl said. “What is he going to be like when he comes back? Because we will be starting to play by then. It’s going to be a bit of a challenge.”
Pearl and select players are set to speak to the media on Wednesday as part of SEC Tipoff ’23 in Birmingham. Auburn begins the 2022-23 season on Monday, Nov. 7 at Neville Arena against George Mason.
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