Byrd injured in game against Carmel, will miss game Friday

North Montgomery senior and Purdue men’s basketball recruit DJ Byrd received the bad news Wednesday morning.
Missing all the second half of Tuesday’s 80-45 loss to Carmel because of an injury, Byrd found out he had torn a cartilage in his meniscus in his left knee. Byrd will have surgery 7 a.m. today.
Byrd will miss North’s regular season finale Friday at Greencastle, and said he is questionable for the Chargers’ sectional opener March 6 against Danville or Crawfordsville.
Sophomore Andrew Airey will start in Byrd’s spot Friday.
Byrd spent most of Wednesday on crutches.
“When I woke up Wednesday morning I was in a lot of pain,” Byrd said. “But I have been icing it and that has been numbing some of the pain. The amount of pain I have just depends on how I move it.”
With the Chargers running a motion offense, North coach Scott Radeker said not much has to be changed with the Charger offensive scheme. The one thing the Chargers won’t have is a player who can create his own shot like Byrd could.
Without Byrd Tuesday, Radeker still saw on tape his players making good cuts to the basket, but missed inside shots.
“We are going to prepare the same way we do every day,” Radeker said. “We are going to lean more on him not playing, because there is more of a chance that he won’t play. We will just have to see how he progresses in the next eight days.”
Byrd said his knee felt sore before Tuesday’s game. While playing defense in the first half, Byrd felt his knee pop. He came out of the game, then he felt his knee pop again after he came back in. While shooting a 3-pointer late in the opening half, Byrd felt his knee pop again. With 1:06 remaining in the opening half, Byrd left and went straight to the lockerroom.
He finished the game with five points on 1-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Byrd found out about his torn cartilage Wednesday morning when he went to Dr. Robert Hagen in Lafayette. Hagen is the Byrd’s family doctor, having done his mom and sister’s ACL surgery’s and his dad’s hip replacement.
“You have no idea the sick feeling in my stomach,” Radeker said. “Just to see all the work that DJ put in during his high school career, and now he might not be able to play in sectional his senior year. But on the other side of the coin, it could have been a lot worse. And if DJ can’t play in sectional, that hopefully will motivate our kids to win sectional because we will have DJ back for regional more than likely.”
After this morning’s surgery, Byrd will begin rehabilitation with North Montgomery Athletic Trainer Isaac Hook.
“We are going to do what we can to get ready,” said Byrd, who averages 24.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game “But I also have to look at the big picture and don’t want to push it either.”
Without Byrd, North senior Clay Pierce led the Chargers with 12 points, while junior Colin Maltsberger had 11 points in the loss to Carmel.
“We are going to have to put guys into different roles that they haven’t played before,” Byrd said. “But I’m confident that the other players will step up and play hard, and that’s all you can ask for.”