UNC Greensboro never stood a chance against North Carolina State in their 89-68 loss on Monday night, especially with Trevis Simpson on the bench. Simpson, who ranks in the top 15 in scoring in the NCAA with 20.3 points per game, was sidelined with an ankle injury. Unlike most basketball injuries which usually occur on the court, Simpson hurt his ankle walking through a hotel lobby.
According to The Dagger, Simpson was in a hazy state after waking up from a pregame nap on Monday afternoon as he was heading through a Raleigh hotel lobby on the way to a team dinner. An automatic door startled him when it swing open, causing the shooting guard to stop short.
“I just stopped suddenly because I thought I was going to be in the path of somebody else, and I was going to let them through,” Simpson said. “Once I realized nobody was there, I tried to keep walking, I heard a pop in my ankle and it started burning and aching. It was then that I realized something wasn’t right.”
An MRI revealed no significant ligament damage but showed that Simpson had overstretched several tendons in his ankle. He had to miss the game against NC State and is a game-time decision against Davidson on Saturday night.
“(My teammates) know I’m the type of guy who will try to play through anything,” Simpson explained. “For something like that to happen and we’re playing NC State, who’s nationally ranked, they realize it must have been something serious.”
Strange things happen. Believe it or not, Simpson’s ankle injury wasn’t the weirdest one we saw this week. The ankle injury Stephen Jackson suffered earlier in the week was even more bizarre.
