Tennessee Suddenly Has An Early Concern With Its New Starting Point Guard

Tennessee basketball fans hold their breath as insider Chris Low provides an update suggesting starting point guard Terrence Hill Jr.'s ankle injury might not derail his season.

Tennessee basketball may have dodged the worst-case scenario with Terrence Hill Jr.’s ankle injury.

After Hill went down in last week’s exhibition loss at Duke and later returned to the sideline on crutches, there had been little concrete word on how long the starting point guard might be sidelined. But on Sunday’s edition of the RTI Low-Down, college sports insider Chris Low offered an encouraging update.

“The other good news is that I think Terrence Hill’s injury, he got hurt at Duke, looked like a pretty nasty ankle sprain, I don’t think it’s as bad maybe as they initially feared,” Low said. “There’s a chance that maybe he gets back for the opener against Wofford. And if not, maybe only misses a couple games and this is not an injury that will keep him out a couple months.”

Hill’s exit came after he accounted for Tennessee’s only two points at that stage of the game. He was fouled on the Volunteers’ first possession while taking a three-pointer, then stepped to the line and made his first two free throws before missing the third.

The injury followed a strong showing in Tennessee’s first exhibition, an 86-70 loss to Xavier at home. Hill led the Vols with 22 points in 32 minutes off the bench, hitting 9 of 17 shots from the field and 2 of 8 from beyond the arc. He also finished with three assists, two rebounds and three steals.

Hill is in his first season with Tennessee after transferring from VCU. He arrived with plenty of momentum after a big finish last season, when he was named A-10 Tournament Most Outstanding Performer, First Team All-A-10, A-10 Most Improved Player and A-10 Sixth Man of the Year. A junior, he has three years of eligibility left under the new five-years to play five rules.

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