Bourama Sidibe to undergo surgery ‘as quickly as possible’
Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer
Bourama Sidibe, pictured in white uniform, will undergo surgery soon to address knee tendinitis he battled most of the season.
OMAHA, Neb. — Syracuse freshman forward Bourama Sidibe will undergo surgery on his left knee, he told The Daily Orange following SU’s (23-14, 8-10 Atlantic Coast) 69-65 season-ending loss to Duke.
Sidibe appeared in 30 games this season, averaging 2.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. He played 12.4 minutes per game, about seven and a half minutes less than what head coach Jim Boeheim anticipated he would play. He battled through a “terrible” tendinitis condition that prevented his ability to jump and score, Boeheim said.
“Definitely,” Sidibe said when asked whether he will have surgery. “I’m going to go every Monday (for rehab). I’m going to have to talk to (trainer) Brad (Pike) about it, because coach (Boeheim) already told me that after this season I have to get surgery as quickly as possible. Which means I may have to go next week, talk to Brad, get it over with. I just have to move my tendon. That’s it.
“It’s not going to take that long, might take only three months, fours months I guess. I just got to move it and be ready for next season.”
A date for his surgery has not yet been set, an SU spokesman told The Daily Orange via text.
“Type of surgery is confidential at this time,” the spokesman texted. “Length of rehab is difficult to determined even after the surgery is finished.”
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Tendinitis is a condition in which the tissue connecting muscle to bone becomes inflamed, according to WebMD. Sidibe said before Syracuse beat TCU last week that he first felt discomfort in his left knee last May. When he arrived at SU in the fall, the condition increasingly grew worse. He said it bothered him intermittently throughout the season, especially when he played only a minute or two at a time. When he played several minutes consecutively, the pain was hardly there, he said.
“I don’t want to do the same thing. I don’t want to play in pain next season, so I have to move my tendon,” Sidibe said.
Sidibe said he has never had surgery and has discussed the process with freshman guard Howard Washington, who underwent surgery last month to repair a torn ACL in his right knee. Sidibe took several platelet-rich plasma injections, which play a key role in the process of wound and soft-tissue healing.
“We only can do so many PRP shots at a time,” Pike said. “His last shot didn’t work so we stopped doing it. He just said it wasn’t working. No reason to do it if it’s not working.”
In early December, Sidibe dropped from his average of splitting about 20 minutes per game at center with Paschal Chukwu to about 10 minutes per game. He received treatment every day of the fall and has worked with trainer Pike throughout the season to reduce soreness. On Dec. 27, Boeheim mentioned the possibility that SU might shut down Sidibe and apply a medical redshirt, though that never became a serious consideration.
For the start of conference play, Sidibe usually played between five and 15 minutes per game, save for an explosion at Pittsburgh in January, when he notched career highs in points (18), rebounds (16) and minutes (28). But he had since hobbled around the court in his limited playing time.
“He’s the same as he’s felt all year: terrible,” Boeheim said at the start of the NCAA Tournament. “He’s been bad for the whole year. It’s not going to change today. He’s doing the best he can on it. He has pain every time he plays. It’s been hurting him. As soon as we’re done playing, we’ll get it fixed. He’s in constant pain. He can’t jump.”
Sidibe impressed early this season with an uncanny ability to time shots and block them, a trait driven in part by his experience catching pigeons. That was a large reason the SU coaching staff grew interested in the 6-foot-10 forward out of St. Benedict’s (New Jersey) High School, head coach Mark Taylor said. Taylor added that Sidibe battled through tendinitis at the end of his senior season a year ago. He tailored his workouts last summer to strengthening his lower half and knee, Taylor said.
For next season, Sidibe expects to return to the Syracuse center position along with soon-to-be senior Chukwu.
Published on March 24, 2018 at 2:35 am
Contact Matthew: [email protected] | @MatthewGut21
