Sophomore men’s basketball guard Lasan Kromah will be sidelined indefinitely, a spokesperson said Friday.
Kromah, the team’s returning top scorer from last season, has a sprained left foot that will likely require surgery, Associate Sports Information Director Brad Bower said.
Kromah injured his left foot Oct. 30 and did not play in GW’s 82-64 win over Bowie State in an exhibition game Nov. 6.
Men’s basketball head coach Karl Hobbs said that he did not have a plan yet as to who would replace Kromah in GW’s starting lineup this season. Freshman Nemanja Mikic – who played a team-high 31 minutes and scored 11 points against the Bulldogs – earned a spot in GW’s starting lineup prior to Kromah’s injury and would have started against Bowie State regardless of Kromah’s ability to play, Hobbs said.
Hobbs said Kromah’s injury was not considered serious when he sustained it and that the severity of the injury was not discovered until later.
“My immediate reaction is that I just felt bad for Lasan,” Hobbs said. “He’s worked extremely hard and he was looking forward to having a great year. I’m not sure the total extent of the injury, but initially we just thought it would be something minor because when he had the injury it wasn’t anything that appeared to be serious until we went and got his MRI.”
Neither Hobbs nor Bower could provide a timeline for Kromah’s return to the team. Kromah declined to comment for this article.
The preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team honoree averaged 11.8 points and two steals per game last season and was going to be counted on to play a major role in the team’s offense this season.
“I think overall for the team, that’s a tremendous blow, the one guy that we have returning that’s an all-league player,” Hobbs said. “We just have to find a way to overcome it and I think it puts everybody in a situation where they’re gonna have to step up, particularly from a scoring standpoint.”
Hobbs said that like the rest of the team, Kromah was initially surprised by the severity of the injury but is working hard to get healthy.
“I think when we first got the initial news, I think he was like everybody else. I think he was a little stunned by it,” Hobbs said. “I think now we’re at the point where he’s ready to get himself back in playing condition and have his surgery and start working on his rehab.”
The Colonials will open their regular season Tuesday against Boston University in the NIT Season Tip-Off, hosted by Villanova.
