Nik Khamenia’s chance to line up against Duke again is off the table for now.
The former Blue Devil, now at UConn, suffered a left foot injury in the first half of Monday night’s 83-41 win over Wagner, and the program announced Thursday evening that he will need surgery and is expected to miss several weeks.
“Nik will have surgery in the coming days and is expected to make a full recovery,” two-time national champion head coach Dan Hurley noted in his statement released on social media. “He will be reevaluated in 6-8 weeks.”
That timeline all but rules Khamenia out of UConn’s matchup with Duke later this month, a meeting that already carried plenty of attention because of his transfer. The Blue Devils and Huskies are set to meet in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
Khamenia’s path to this point has already included one memorable night against UConn. At the Elite Eight in Washington, D.C., on March 29, he posted seven points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 22 minutes during Duke’s 73-72 loss to the Huskies. He was on the bench for the final 10 seconds when Braylon Mullins - now his teammate and roommate in Storrs, Conn. - buried the three that ended Duke’s season.
Now, instead of facing his old team, Khamenia will be working back toward a return.
Duke, ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 Poll, is coming off a 79-73 loss to No. 5 Michigan State in Tuesday night’s Champions Classic at Chicago’s United Center and is set to host SIU Edwardsville at 8 p.m.
ET Friday in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils also have No.
3 Illinois coming to Durham at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday on ESPN, then Washington State on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., before the UConn game.
UConn, meanwhile, will face unranked Ohio State in Hartford, Conn., at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday.
Before the Duke showdown, the Huskies also have a true road test against No. 12 Arizona at 9 p.m.
ET Wednesday.
Khamenia spent last season in Durham, appearing in all 38 games for a Duke team that finished 35-3 overall. He averaged 5.7 points in 19.8 minutes per game, mostly coming off the bench, before entering the transfer portal in early April. Less than two weeks later, he chose UConn.
Through three games as a starter for the 3-0 Huskies, he had been averaging 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 18.7 minutes per game, though those numbers were affected by the injury that forced him out Monday night.
He and reserve guard Darren Harris, now a junior and starting for unranked Indiana, were the only players from last season’s Duke roster to enter the transfer portal.
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