FOGGY BOTTOM – Garrett Johnson successfully underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered during the first session of summer practices, George Washington announced on Monday.
Injury update: Garrett Johnson suffered a torn ACL during last month's summer workouts. He has undergone a successful surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/BHcnia8PcM
— GW Men's Basketball (@GW_MBB) July 1, 2024
A team spokesperson confirmed to A10Talk that as things currently stand, Johnson is not expected to return for the end of the 2024-25 season.
The recovery timeline for a surgically repaired torn ACL is usually between 10-12 months. A potential late-February/early-March return would put Johnson at about eight-and-a-half months post-surgery, which would mean he would need to be significantly ahead of schedule for there to be a possibility of him seeing any game action in 2024-25.
The redshirt sophomore forward missed the final seven games of last year’s regular season and GW’s lone Atlantic 10 tournament game after re-aggravating a lingering hip issue stemming from the rare benign tumor that kept him out of basketball for two-and-a-half years.
Before his season-ending injury last season, Johnson was averaging 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and was shooting 40.3% from three on 5.6 attempts per game. He was also named A-10 Rookie of the Week four times.
Johnson was expected to start and play a key role on a revamped new-look GW team. Now, graduate transfer Gerald Drumgoole Jr. is going to have to play an even bigger role as one of the only true wings on a roster now dominated by guards and big men.
The 6-5 Drumgoole spent his first two seasons at Pittsburgh, transferred to Albany for two seasons, then spent last season at Delaware. In his lone season at Delaware, he averaged 13.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 37.3% from three on 6.2 attempts per game.
Other options on the wing could include 6-4 sophomore guard Trey Autry, 6-5 freshman guard Ty Bevins and 6-8 redshirt sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr.
Earlier in the offseason, Buchanan Jr. told A10Talk that he is focusing on improving his three point shooting, which would potentially make the versatile forward a more realistic option on the perimeter and allow GW to experiment with jumbo lineup featuring Buchanan Jr. alongside a combination of 6-9 grad transfer forward Sean Hansen, 6-11 redshirt junior forward Rafael Castro and 6-8 sophomore forward Zamoku Weluche-Ume.
GW still has one open scholarship, so they could also look to the transfer portal to help make up for Johnson’s extended absence.
