Allison develops stress fracture

By Kyle Charters
Senior Writer

On Thursday afternoon, Purdue junior John Allison's right foot felt fine. By Monday, though, it was anything but.

The 6-foot-10 starting center has developed a stress fracture in his right foot, which will keep him sidelined indefinitely. According to team physician Mike Krauss, it will be at least a week before the training staff can evaluate Allison's status and estimate when he may be able to return.

That means Allison, who is averaging 10.9 points and team highs of 5.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, will at least miss the Boilers' next two games — against No. 16 Wisconsin at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Madison, Wisc., and vs. No. 7 Illinois at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Mackey Arena. His status for the rest of the games remains uncertain.

"As far as they told me, I just have to stay off of it," said Allison. "That's part of the reason for the crutches — just to alleviate the pressure from it. Other than that there's not really anything they can do — no exercises or anything because it's too deep into the foot."

Allison doesn't know what caused the fracture, but he said the pain started after practice on Thursday night. By Saturday, his foot was swollen and he could barely walk.

"We really didn't know what was wrong with it," said Allison. "I thought I could go out and play on it (against Michigan State) on Sunday, but I was hurting during the game."

With Allison out of the lineup, Purdue coach Gene Keady is looking to find a replacement at starting center. The most likely players would be either 6-9 sophomore Adam Wetzel, who is averaging 2.6 points per game, or 6-11 freshman Kevin Garrity, who is averaging 0.8 points per game.

"It's wide open and if you'd like to apply for it, you're certainly welcome to," said Keady. "Because right now, all positions at starter are open except Willie Deane's."

In Purdue's 17-point loss to Michigan State on Sunday, the Boiler starters totaled just 25 points. Deane, usually a reserve guard, scored 20. But because of the Boilers' lack of depth on the interior and their season-long rebounding troubles, Keady seems most concerned with finding a suitable replacement in the middle.

"We hope that somebody, given the opportunity, will be able to be productive and take up where John's left off," he said.

"(Today) in practice our emphasis will be on getting a little tougher," said Keady. "And hopefully we won't get someone else hurt."

Allison said being injured is frustrating because he wants to be able to help the team.

"But at the same time, this is pretty painful," he said. "So we'll see what happens.

"Now more than ever we have to have people like Adam and Kevin stand up and play some great defense inside and score some points too. I just hope they're ready for it."

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