What Denzel Valentine’s Injury Means For The Michigan State Spartans

Valentine had arthroscopic surgery on Monday morning to fix his injured knee.

Izzo compared Valentine’s injury to one that MSU’s Goran Suton had in the 2008-09 season, costing Suton two weeks.

If Valentine’s return remains on the best-case scenario timeline, he would return in time for the January 7 game against IL.

The sudden loss of standout guard Denzel Valentine to a minor knee injury could have a significant short-term impact on No. 1 Michigan State, but coach Tom Izzo isn’t fretting about the Spartans’ long-range goals.

He suffered the injury after coming down awkwardly while attempting a layup during practice on Sunday.

That game will mark Michigan State’s first foray into replacing a player who has done it all for them this season, a task that won’t be easy. They will likely not make the 2016 NCAA tournament as an at-large team unless they pull off the improbable upset over Michigan State, but the Golden Grizzlies will feel confident that they can compete with the likes of the Valparaiso Crusaders and Milwaukee Panthers at the top of the Horizon League and potentially win the conference tournament. That proved to be a scary combination as the Golden Grizzlies stormed to a 14-point second-half lead, withstood a ferocious Michigan State rally and regrouped to force overtime before falling 99-93.

Valentine is averaging 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Spartans (12-0), who play Oakland on Tuesday night. What will this mean for Michigan State?

Kahlil Felder has been that player for Oakland (7-3), which is off to its best start since joining Division I in 1998.

A Forbes 3-pointer gave the Spartans a 63-61 lead with 9:21 remaining during a 25-8 run.

Kay Felder, the nation’s No. 2 scorer, had 37 points and nine assists for the Golden Grizzlies (7-4).

West Virginia transfer Eron Harris will take Valentine’s spot in the starting lineup.

Izzo does, too, but his squad held Felder to 13 points on 3-of-12 shooting in last season’s 87-61 win.

Others must fill the void, including sharpshooting freshman Matt McQuaid and senior leader Bryn Forbes.

“We’ll be fine”, Izzo said. But once again, Michigan State made just enough plays to escape with the win. Even though they’ll have plenty of time to recover, Michigan State only plays Maryland and Purdue once each (a blessing and a curse).