Jermaine Lawrence Out Indefinitely With A Sprained Toe

Jan 4, 2014; Memphis, TN, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats forward Jermaine Lawrence (11) shoots over Memphis Tigers forward David Pellom (12) during the first half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

There was one young Bearcat who had been getting a pretty good chunk of court time recently and that player was Jermaine Lawrence. This season the ultra-hyped true freshman was averaging about 17 minutes per game while contributing an average of 4.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks to Cincinnati’s cause.

But he was designated to the bench in Tuesday night’s win over the Houston Cougars, dressing in only street clothes. It was a bit perplexing considering UC needed him badly last night facing a powerful forward in TaShawn Thomas and especially so with Justin Jackson and Titus Rubles flirting with fouling out.

And now we know the reason for Lawrence’s absence. According to Jon Rothstein at CBS Sports, he was sidelined due to a sprained toe. While we don’t know the extent to which Lawrence is injured, by the sound of things it doesn’t appear all that serious. Lawrence might miss some time but he shouldn’t require surgery on the sprained toe, which would have ended his season and potentially jeopardized his playing time next year. That would have been devastating for both the true freshman’s development and the team’s success as a whole.

We’ll just have to wait and see when Lawrence returns. Hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.