Red Storm Sports News
St. John's Lamont Hamilton To Miss BIG EAST Championship With Knee Injury
Published: March 05, 2007
QUEENS, N.Y.
St. John's head men's basketball coach Norm Roberts announced that senior forward Lamont Hamilton will miss the BIG EAST Championship Tournament due to a partial tear in the patellar tendon in his left knee.
Hamilton suffered the injury in the first half of St. John's victory over Providence on Sunday, March 4. The senior collided with teammate Anthony Mason Jr. and a Providence player while attempting to block a shot. The collision caused an injury to Hamilton's knee that was originally diagnosed as a hyperextension.
Hamilton underwent a MRI at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan on Monday morning, and was examined by team doctor Osric King, M.D., and St. John's Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Medicine, Ron Linfonte, A.T.C. The MRI revealed the partially-torn tendon.
On Tuesday Hamilton will be examined by Answorth Allen, M.D., team orthopedist to St. John's and the New York Knicks, to determine if surgery will be required to repair the injured knee.
"We are obviously very disappointed for Lamont," said Roberts. "He has worked extremely hard during his four-year career, and especially during his senior season to put us in a position to qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament. It is disappointing that he won't be able to participate after all of his dedication to our team. He will be with us on the sidelines cheering on his teammates."
"Even though I am disappointed and the season didn't end like I would have liked for me, this year has been a great year for St. John's," said Hamilton. "I will cheer for my teammates to make it all the way, and I will be a leader for my team on the sideline."
Hamilton was named a Wooden and Naismith National Player of the Year candidate at the beginning of the season, and led the Red Storm with averages of 13.4 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game en route to 2007 first team All-BIG EAST honors. He became the 43rd player in St. John's history to reach the 1,000 career point plateau, and finished his career with the Red Storm ranked 28th in school history with 1,216 points. He also grabbed 682 career rebounds to finish ranked 22nd all-time on the career charts. Hamilton is one of only six players in St. John's 99-year basketball history to amass as many as 1,100 career points, 650 rebounds and 100 blocked shots.