John Henson Injury: Update on North Carolina Star's Wrist Injury

The UNC Tar Heels will be without star big man John Henson due to a wrist injury, according to the official Twitter page of the team.

The junior forward hurt his left wrist in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament against the Maryland Terrapins. On Friday, after just seven minutes on the court, he took a hard foul from Terps’ freshman forward Ashton Pankey while he was going to the hoop.

UPDATE: Sunday, March 18, 3:50 p.m. ET by Donald Wood

The University of North Carolina Tar Heels need John Henson on the floor if they want a chance to win the 2012 NCAA tournament, and there is now good news coming Chapel Hill.

The Fayetteville Observer is reporting about the UNC star’s availability:

"

Indications are that North Carolina forward John Henson will play in today’s NCAA tournament game against Creighton. The 6-foot-11 junior forward missed the top-seeded Tar Heels’ last three games after spraining his left wrist in the first half of the Tar Heels’ ACC tournament quarterfinal victory against Maryland.

"

Henson is the key piece in the Tar heels offensive and defensive schemes, and he led the team in rebounds (10.1 pg) and blocks (2.9 pg) while sitting third in scoring (13.8 pg). The bottom line; Henson needs to be in the lineup for UNC to win and it looks like he will be.

Update: Friday, March 16 at 3:08 p.m. EST

It is now official that the North Carolina Tar Heels forward John Henson will not be playing in the team's second round game against No. 16 seed Vermont.

According to the UNC Basketball's official Twitter handle, Henson will not play in today's game, and instead James Michael McAdoo will be inserted into the starting line up.

"

John Henson will not play today vs Vermont. James Michael McAdoo will start in his place.

— UNC Hoops (@UNC_Basketball) March 16, 2012"

McAdoo started in place for Henson in the team's 85-82 loss to the Florida State Seminoles in the ACC title game. In that game, McAdoo went 2-10 from the field with just four points and eight rebounds.

Perhaps with that start under his belt, he will have better results this time around. The team likely isn't too worried with this first game, but they will be hoping to have Henson at some point down the road.

Updated by Jeff Chase 

Update: Thursday, March 15 at 6:35 p.m. EST

According to a report from USA Today's Andy Gardiner, Henson looks likely to be a game-time decision. The big man's wrist is still not fully healed, and head coach Roy Williams said that while Henson has taken shots with his injured wrist, he has yet to block shots and Williams is skeptical as to whether his center will be ready to go on Friday. 

"

"I'll see how it feel when I wake up in the morning, and if it improves from the rate that it did from yesterday to today, I think I'll be fine," Henson said. "I think coach wants to see if I'm confident in it and he will ultimately make the final decision.

"I think Sunday would be a greater (chance of playing) just because id have two more days of recovery. The way it feels now I think I'll be good to go for Sunday."

"

If Carolina is without Henson for more than the first game of the tournament, things could get very interesting for the Tar Heels. The junior big man is a key for North Carolina on the boards and in the paint, and losing him hinders their offense. The Tar Heel faithful had better hope that even if Henson can't go tomorrow, he'll be set to play come Sunday. 

Update: Thursday, March 15 at 1:58 p.m. ET by Nicholas Goss

According to Will Brinson of CBS Sports, North Carolina star forward John Henson's wrist is improving, but it's not at the ideal level for the junior to compete in the NCAA Tournament.

"

John Henson told me his wrist is at 65% today. 45% yesterday. Wants to be 80% before he tells Roy he wants to play

— Will Brinson (@willbrinson) March 15, 2012"

Not wanting to play until the wrist feels at least 80 percent healthy is a smart and responsible move by Henson. Playing before the wrist heals enough could damage the Tar Heels chances to make the Final Four, and Henson's own future could be hurt because there is always a risk of doing further damage.

Follow @NicholasGoss35

Update: Tuesday, March 13th at 4:30 p.m. EDT

John Henson's status for the NCAA Tournament remains up in the air, though North Carolina head coach Roy Williams remains hopeful that his star big man will be ready in time for Friday's second-round game against either Lamar or Vermont in Greensboro. Henson, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, missed the final two games of the conference tournament after injuring his left wrist.

Said Williams of Henson's health to The Fayetteville Observer:

"

“If I had to guess, if the game were today, he still would not play. But I’m hopeful that he will by Friday.”

"

Should Henson's wrist remain a major issue, the Tar Heels will turn to James Michael McAdoo to fill in up front. The freshman forward, and nephew of former UNC star Bob McAdoo, totaled 23 points and 16 rebounds in two starts as Henson's replacement. 

Follow @J0shMart1n

-----------

Henson came off the ground in obvious pain and was soon ruled out for the rest of the game.

According to the staff over at Sporting News, the Tar Heels’ goal is to have the ACC Defensive Player of the Year back and healthy in time for the tournament.

Coach Roy Williams has a known distaste for the conference tourney, and he is not going to rush a valuable asset like Henson back for a game or two that he considers unimportant.

"

"This morning at breakfast, he said it did feel better than it did last night," Williams said on Saturday afternoon. "He could move it more, but there is still some discomfort there.

"He had trouble catching and gripping the basketball," Williams said. "That's his dominant hand, even though he's righthanded."

"

Even if the Tar Heels win today and make it to the finals of the ACC tournament, they likely already have a No. 1 seed locked up, and it would be stupid to risk further injury to the big man’s wrist.

Look for Henson to be fully healed and ready to go come March Madness.