If Ohio plays the same number of games this year, the cutoff for Carter will be nine on the training table than the court.
Jason Carter benefitted from the first instance. Now he is suffering through it.
Antonio Campbell’s broken foot ended his collegiate career. He applied for an extra year of eligibility, but the NCAA denied him.
Carter, still a sophomore, will assuredly play for Ohio again. Whether that happens this season, however, is the question at hand.
Carter’s injury has been surrounded by question marks from the beginning. At first it was a tweak in practice, not even enough to keep him out of the preseason exhibition against Capital.
Then he limped off the court in that game, but coach Saul Phillips said keeping Carter out for the rest of it was only precautionary. Then Carter showed up to practice in a boot, and Phillips said Carter was out for “a little while.”
An ESPN 3 broadcast during the Indiana State game called Carter’s injury a stress fracture, which was never confirmed by the Bobcats.
The questions persist, but Carter’s current status remains the same: he is out indefinitely.
Every day Carter does not play or practice, his shirt looks less green or white and more red. To earn a medical redshirt, he cannot play in more than 30 percent of Ohio’s games.
Last season, Ohio advanced to the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, which amounted to 31 games.
If Ohio plays the same number of games this year, the cutoff for Carter will be nine games.
Carter will not be completely healthy this season. Considering he's suffered multiple setbacks this season, the risk of playing him again is obvious.
But for now, the choice is out of his coach's hands.
"(Carter's lower leg) is not strong enough to ramp it up right now," Phillips said. "The doctor doesn't want him doing anything right now other than some light shooting on the side."
Carter earned his first career start last season after Campbell broke his foot. When the Bobcats travel to Yipsilanti this weekend, he will miss his seventh straight game — and his 15th overall.
Coincidentally, that is the same number of games Campbell played in last season.
Carter used last season’s injury to an all-conference big man as a springboard for his career. This year, it’s put his career on hold.
All he — and the many Bobcat fans eager for his return — can do is wait and hope.
