Gonzaga forward Killian Tillie sidelined after undergoing knee surgery

Gonzaga forward Killian Tillie has been bitten by the injury bug again.

The senior forward is sidelined for an unspecified amount of time after undergoing a “knee procedure” Thursday, according to a school release. His status will be evaluated weekly.

A source confirmed Tillie had surgery to “clean up” his knee, so it doesn’t appear to be too serious. The Zags open the regular season against Alabama State on Nov. 5 with their first big test at Texas A&M on Nov. 15.

It’s another dose of unfortunate news for Tillie, who was limited to 15 games last season by a stress fracture in his ankle and a partially torn plantar fascia in his foot. He declared for the NBA Draft last spring but was forced to withdraw his name after spraining his ankle during his first workout with the Atlanta Hawks.

In 2017, Tillie missed two games with a sprained ankle and later missed four more games with a broken finger.

Tillie has the team’s most experience in a Zag uniform with 84 career games, including 35 starts. The skilled, 6-foot-10 native of France averaged 6.2 points and 3.9 rebounds last season. He’s averaged 8.3 points and 4.5 boards in his career.

Tillie is projected to start alongside Filip Petrusev in the frontcourt.