USC men's basketball center Curtis Washington has torn his labrum and will likely redshirt this season, USC Athletics' twitter account reported today. The torn labrum likely requires surgery, and recovery would have caused Washington to miss much or all of the upcoming season.
Washington, 6'10", 245, played in three games for a total of 11 minutes in the 2010-2011 season. The Elizabethtown, Kentucky native has yet to take a shot for the Trojans. He was the team's third big-man last year, sitting behind NBA Draft 1st round pick Nikola Vucevic and now-graduated senior Alex Stepheson. Garrett Jackson now figures to get minutes with Washington's injury.
This doesn't help with depth on a team that ran four of its players 30+ minutes a game last season and really only had seven players in their rotation. The Trojans' hoops program has been hurt by scholarship limitations and having several players leave due to NCAA penalties.
Coach Kevin O'Neill will now have to look elsewhere for players to add to that rotation going forward.