Michigan State grad transfer Ben Carter suffers knee injury

Michigan State revealed some potentially problematic news earlier today when they announced that graduate transfer Ben Carter had suffered a knee injury that would require surgery. While a timetable hasn’t been announced yet, it is being reported that the injury will keep him an out for an extended period of time.

The news is another setback for Carter, who suffered a torn ACL last season while playing for UNLV.

Carter, a 6’9” forward that has played previously at Oregon and UNLV, averaged 8.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.4 blocks per game last year for the Runnin’ Rebels in 24 minutes an outing.

“I feel awful for Ben. He had worked extremely hard on his rehab and to suffer another knee injury on a fluke play is incredibly cruel,” said head coach Tom Izzo.

Carter was supposed to bring some much needed depth to the Spartans frontcourt in 2016-17. While Michigan State has plenty of top notch talent coming onto campus, the early departure of Deyonta Davis, as well as losing Javon Bess and Marvin Clark, created a need for Carter. Not only would he add some depth and experience down low, but Carter has proven to be a capable defender and good shot blocker.

Suffering a second knee injury since January, especially one that will require another surgery, puts Carters potential future with the Spartans in jeopardy. While Michigan State has several options in the front court, it does leave the unit a bit thinner than they would have been otherwise and could weaken State’s defense this winter. It’s also an unfortunate break for a senior that was working hard to return to the court in 2016-17.