What Vic Law's season ending injury means for Northwestern

Northwestern announced today that sophomore wing Vic Law will miss the entire 2015-2016 season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The once four-star recruit appeared in all 32 games for the Wildcats last season, averaging 7.0 PPG and 4.8 RPG, and shooting 35.5% from beyond the arc. This comes just two days before Northwestern's season opener on Friday against UMass Lowell in Evanston.

Obviously, this is a really big loss for Northwestern. At 6-7 200 lbs, Law was expected to play a major role in the Wildcats' offense this season. While 7.0 PPG may not seem like much, many expected Law to progress this season into a formidable threat at the wing. Not only is he the highest rated recruit in Northwestern basketball history, he is expected to be the cornerstone of the rebuilding for the NU program. He was apart of Chris Collins' first recruiting class as head coach, and clearly brings a lot to the table in terms of talent and athleticism.

"We’re certainly disappointed for Vic," said Collins earlier today. "He dedicated himself and made great progress during this offseason, and had a great summer and preseason on the court. I have no doubt that his attitude toward recovery and improvement will be relentless and that he will continue to be a tremendous teammate. We expect a full recovery in 4-6 months and Vic remains a foundational piece of our program for the future."

This now means that the Cats have an important void to fill at the three position. Some speculate that Collins could shift incoming 6-8 freshman Aaron Falzon to the three and then have transfer Joey van Zegeren play a big four. However the more likely scenario is that Collins will start 6-6 junior guard Sanjay Lumpkin at the three. Lumpkin would be the third guard in a three guard set that includes sophomore Bryant McIntosh and senior Tre Demps.

Expect Law to apply for a medical redshirt this year. This would retain his remaining three years of NCAA eligibility, should he so chooses to use them. It will be a lengthy recovery process, but the hope is that Law will be able to regain full form and be ready for the 2016-2017 season.