Marquette senior guard Dominic James, who suffered a broken fifth metatarsal on his left foot on Feb. 25, was cleared to return to the court Saturday evening after undergoing an extensive evaluation process over the course of the last week.
No. 6 Marquette is set to face No. 3 Missouri in the West Regional Sunday in Boise, Idaho.
“I don’t know how much he’ll be able to contribute,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “The thing that I’m excited about is we’re going to give him an opportunity to close out his career in the best way he possibly could. And I think the recovery has been due in large part to his work, but also because of the wisdom of Ernest (Eugene) and Dr. (Darrin) Maccoux.
“He worked out the day we got here, he worked out Friday morning before our game, worked out Friday night, practiced with us today,” Williams said. “So medically he’s been cleared, but how much he’ll be able to contribute, I don’t know.”
James was injured in the opening minutes of the team’s Feb. 25 matchup with Connecticut and has missed each of the squad’s last six outings.
The Richmond, Ind., native underwent successful surgery on Feb. 27 and began his rehabilitation process immediately under the direction of the University’s sports medicine and team physician staffs.
“We’ve talked to some experts in the field, and these cases are known, have happened in elite athletes – college and the pros,” said athletic trainer Ernest Eugene. “He’s been very instrumental in all this, obviously. He’s been so dedicated being where he’s supposed to be every day, doing what he needs to do, and he’s surpassed every goal.”
(Info courtesy Marquette athletics)
