By ADAM ZAGORIA
Arkansas freshman point guard Boogie Fland had successful surgery Wednesday to repair an injury to his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) on his right thumb, performed by Dr. Bob Hotchkiss at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, the school announced.
The injury originally occurred in Arkansas’ game against Florida (Jan. 11) and he attempted to play through it over the Razorbacks’ past two games (at LSU and at Missouri).
After consulting with team physicians and multiple hand specialists, surgery was selected as the best option for full recovery.
There is no timetable for his return. Fland will begin his rehab immediately and will continue to work with the training staff at the University of Arkansas.
The Bronx, NY native and former Archbishop Stepinac star started the first 18 games of the season for the Razorbacks and was leading the SEC in minutes played per game (34:07). As of Jan. 20, Fland:
• was second on the team in scoring (15.1).
• led all NCAA freshmen in assist-turnover ratio (3.68).
• ranked eighth overall in the NCAA and first in the SEC in assist-turnover ratio.
• led all NCAA freshmen in assists per game (5.72)
• ranked 29th overall in the NCAA in assists per game.
• tallied 103 total assists with just 28 turnovers.
• was shooting 36.5% from 3-point range and 83.9% from the free throw line.
• led the team in scoring six times (second-best on the team) and led the team in assists in 16 of his 18 games.
The news is a major blow for head coach John Calipari, whose team is winless in the SEC in his first season since departing Kentucky.
"His hand is pretty bad. Don't know what we'll do going forward."
— Evan Kamikow (@emkamikow) January 19, 2025
From bad to worse for Arkansas men's basketball as it sounds like Boogie Fland may miss time with a hand injury he suffered last weekend against Florida. #WPS
Here's what Cal had to say about the injury. pic.twitter.com/ru3GgOjGCw
Arkansas assistant Chin Coleman said DJ Wagner, Johnell Davis and Richmond would have to take on larger roles without Fland
“Obviously, it’s natural for DJ to move into that role,” Coleman said. “He’s done it his whole life. He’s done it in his career. So it’s an easy fix for him just moving to that role. But committee wise, Johnell will have to take some of that responsibility, and Billy Richmond, who has played that position some in high school. It’s different obviously on this level. But he has played the position so we’re going to ask for him to take some of that.”
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