Auburn head coach Steven Pearl announced on Friday that freshman guard Simon Walker underwent surgery on Tuesday for a right foot injury he suffered in practice last week.
Walker had the surgery in Birmingham, and the Huntsville, Ala., native is expected to make a full recovery and return to action sometime later this season. While this obviously isn’t ideal for Auburn basketball or Pearl, who is entering his first season as the head coach after the retirement of his father, Bruce, the fact that Walker is expected to contribute this coming season is at least a positive for the Tigers.
“Simon has been one of our most improved players since he stepped foot on campus this summer. I’m incredibly proud of the strides he’s made,” Pearl said in a statement. “This is a minor setback, and I have no doubt that he will attack his rehab just as aggressively as he attacked his development this summer.”
Walker is a 6-foot-4, 195-pound guard who was a 4-star recruit to Auburn after starring at Huntsville High School. He was highly sought after, being the 2nd-ranked player out of the state of Alabama as a senior.
From the sounds of what Steven Pearl said on Friday, Walker will still very much be a part of what the Tigers try to do this season, coming off last season’s trip to the Final Four.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.