Matty McConnell could miss some time

RMU guard Matty McConnell could miss 2-4 weeks with a left shoulder injury.

The freshman injured his shoulder early in the first half of the Cincinnati game Sunday. He had a shot blocked and appeared to injure the shoulder when he collided with a defender reaching for the ball.

McConnell was seen on the bench with his arm in a sling and an ice pack on the shoulder. As Lauren Kirschman tweeted today, McConnell was undergoing “further evaluation” to get a definite timetable. I’ve heard there’s a chance he could be back around the end of Thanksgiving, so let’s re-start the McConnell watch around Nov. 28 vs. Mississippi Valley State as the earliest date possible.

In his presence, expect freshman Isaiah Still to see even more floor time. Still played a really solid 31 minutes Sunday against Cincinnati, shooting 4-8 overall. Freshman Steven Whitley also played 14 minutes on Sunday but has struggled a little more. Maybe the chance of extended playing time helps that out a little more.

Don’t discount other ways around the lack of a “true” shooting guard. Maybe RMU goes with more Stewart-Lester-Pryor sets. Maybe this means more Frederick-Tate-Minnie frontcourt combinations. Either way, I bet this means more miles on Rodney Pryor’s legs.

McConnell is probably the second best pure shooter the team has. For however long he’s out, it’ll mean RMU will have to find other ways to get buckets. Although it was an extremely small sample size, McConnell had the highest offensive rating on the team through two games.

--Chris Cappella

--@C_Cappella