STARKVILLE — Jalen Steele likely said it best about his situation on his Twitter account Thursday afternoon.
“I got to start from the bottom again,” the Mississippi State University junior guard tweeted.
MSU officials announced Thursday Steele will miss the remainder of the 2012-13 campaign after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in the 79-72 loss Wednesday night at the University South Carolina.
This injury represents the exact same injury Steele suffered with four games left in his freshman season to his left knee.
Steele will undergo surgery to correct the damage after the university’s spring break and will be the third major surgery for the 6-foot-3 guard since arriving on campus. He suffered a broken right wrist in November that kept him out of the lineup for eight games.
“I feel for Jalen because he was starting to find his way in our offense and his role on our team after missing eight games with his wrist injury earlier in the season,” MSU coach Rick Ray said.
The injury occurred with 5 minutes, 14 seconds left in the game as the Knoxville, Tenn., was driving to the basket. Steele had to be carr ed off the court by trainers and his teammates.
“Jalen was coming off back-to-back double-figure scoring games with 10 points against Ole Miss and 17 points at South Carolina before he was injured,” Ray said. “Jalen has been through this before and handled it like a champ, and I know he will come back again with the same winning results.”
Steele has appeared in 18 games this season with 11 starts and his season ends averaging 10.1 points per game.
The injury to Steele means MSU (8-21, 3-14 in Southeastern Conference) will once again be down to six players on scholarship to start the season when they host Auburn University on Senior Night at Humphrey Coliseum Saturday (4:30 p.m, Fox Sports South).
Steele’s injury also represents the fourth season-ending knee injury to the Bulldogs roster since summer offseason workouts began.
“Always a great day to be a Bulldog,” Ray tweeted Thursday evening. “Love my job, & our players r growing on & off the court everyday.”
No pity parties here. Develop & teach.”
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