Gibbs suffers another setback

Grant Gibbs thought he was out of the woods. His right shoulder, which popped out of place at a Gonzaga men’s basketball practice Nov. 10, was feeling better.

However, the results of his MRI exam told a different story. Gibbs is scheduled for surgery Monday to repair a torn labrum. The true freshman guard from Marion, Iowa, was probably going to redshirt anyway, but the diagnosis was still tough to digest.

“I had trouble believing it,” Gibbs said. “It’s pretty disappointing. Even if I was going to redshirt, I was planning on having a big, productive redshirt year where I put on weight and I was competing every day in practice because that’s what I enjoy the most – competing and playing against Matt (Bouldin) and Jeremy (Pargo). Now, all that has been taken away.”

It’s the second time Gibbs has experienced that feeling in two seasons. During his senior year at Lin-Mar High, Gibbs suffered a broken right wrist, concussion and nasty cut above his eye during a Jan. 22 game.

“It was about 4 or 5 minutes into the game,” said Bulldogs assistant coach Ray Giacoletti, who was in attendance. “He caught the ball and was going up to dunk it and he kind of got undercut. He came down as hard as I’ve seen anybody come down. He actually hit his face and busted open his eyebrow and blood starting pouring down. I thought it was that, but when he put his hand up it wasn’t good, you could tell something was wrong.”

Gibbs’ wrist didn’t heal correctly, prompting a second operation. Still, he returned to play in the 4A state tournament with his doctor’s approval, as long as his wrist was heavily taped. His team captured third place, thanks to Gibbs’ 22 points and his fall-away 3-pointer in the consolation game. It was the last shot of his prep career.

“I couldn’t dribble well and I was kind of a push-shooter,” he said. “But I could still play and contribute, so that’s all I wanted was to get back out and play.”

Gibbs’ latest setback will require a lengthy recovery time. At three months, he can start running and shooting. At six months, he should be cleared to play without limitation.

Gibbs suffered his shoulder subluxation during a five-on-five drill. He also dinged the same shoulder during a summer pick-up game.

“I kind of collided with Jeremy (Pargo),” he said. “I don’t remember it popping out completely, but it kind of went the wrong direction. I had it checked out with (assistant athletic trainer) Jen (Nyland) and it felt fine. It was sore for a day or two, but I think that’s where the problems might have started.”

Sacre on the mend

Sophomore center Robert Sacre, who had foot surgery Oct. 1, has returned to practice on a limited basis. He’ll make the trip to Orlando this week, but coach Mark Few said Sacre’s status for game minutes remains uncertain.

“He’s not cleared yet to go full,” Few said. “He’s just practicing minutes at a time, but he’s bouncing around pretty good. Hopefully we can get him up to speed to the point where he can really help us.”

Sacre said he has no pain in his foot and he’s working on his conditioning level.

Making their point

Jeremy Pargo will encounter a familiar face when Gonzaga takes on Oklahoma State on Thursday at the Old Spice Classic. OSU point guard Byron Eaton and Pargo have spent a lot of time together on the summer camp circuit.

“The ABCD camp, the NBA players camp,” Pargo said. “We’re really good friends. We’ve kept in touch throughout college. He’s a great player and he does things to help his team win, but hopefully we go down there and take a win from him.”

Pargo hasn’t heard from Eaton this week and doesn’t expect to.

“I’m not going to initiate it,” Pargo said.

Still No. 9

North Carolina, Connecticut and Louisville held the top three spots in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll Monday, while Gonzaga remained at No. 9.

Pittsburgh moved from sixth to fourth, leaping Michigan State, which remained No. 5. Texas moved up one place to sixth, while Duke, which beat Michigan for the 2K Sports Classic title, jumped from 10th to No. 7.

Notre Dame and Gonzaga remained eighth and ninth, while Purdue moved up one place to close out the Top 10.