JJ Mandaquit Takes His Husky Injury Absence Hard

The last time the University of Washington basketball team played at home, JJ Mandaquit stood in the middle of pregame warmups, with everyone running around him, in obvious distress with an assistant coach trying to console him.

Mandaquit had learned he was out for the season with a foot injury, that he wouldn't be playing against Iowa that night, and the freshman point guard from Hilo, Hawaii, was crushed by this development.

"He's struggling because it's so important to him," UW coach Danny Sprinkle said this week. "Basketball is the most important thing to him. He puts a lot of work into it."

As the Huskies (12-12 overall, 4-9 Big Ten) host last-place Penn State (10-14, 1-12) at Alaska Airlines Arena, Mandaquit will likely have been told when and where he's going to have foot surgery, which at least should distract him some from the disappointment of not playing.

"It's not only devastating for him, it's devastating to our team," Sprinkle said of his absence.

Mandaquit came in highly regarded as a floor leader, started the first six games for the Huskies, hit a bit of a freshman wall and seemed to find his college basketball comfort zone right when he got hurt.

In an 82-72 loss to Michigan, Mandaquit came up with a season-high 15 points, 5 field goals made and 3 3-pointers made.

JJ Mandaquit drives to the basket for the Huskies. | Dave Sizer photo

"He put a lot of time into this season," Sprinkle said. "I'm heartbroken for him because he'd turned that freshman corner."

Mandaquit hurt his foot in the preseason and then had a recent reoccurrence.

He'll step away from the season after appearing in 22 games, and averaging 5.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He had a season-high 8 assists against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and 7 against Denver in his first two outings.

Most noteworthy, this floor leader committed just 27 turnovers in 22 UW outings, or nearly one miscue per game.

JJ Mandaquit tries to split two Southern defenders on his way to the basket. | Dave Sizer photo

If he's red-eyed again during warmups on Wednesday night, it's because it's extremely hard for him to envision himself not being part of this game against the Nittany Lions.

With his season-ending injury, he's been fully initiated to the college game, as painful as that is, both physically and emotionally. It's a difficult thing to deal with.

"He's going to be going through his first surgery," Sprinkle said, "and missing the most important part of the season that he'd dreamed about."

So invested in the game, spare JJ Mandaquit if shows more emotion while sitting out the Penn State game.

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