Illini Basketball 2026-2027

[EmeraldCityIllini]

there is literally no motive for Brad to “lie”.

There is also irony in that when Mirk first got injured, there was much groaning on here because foot injuries are fickle (myself included because they are), and then when something in that recovery didn’t fit 100 % into your planned timeline, it reverts immediately to Brad lied

All of us wish he was 100% after surgery, but this is starting to reek of “I’m frustrated mirk is still recovering and wanna be mad at someone.”

 

[the juiceman cometh]

I'm really just doing my best not to think about this for as long as I have that luxury, and I am certainly not interested in getting any language battles over the definition of the word "setback".

But I think anyone with any familiarity with big men and foot/ankle problems in basketball reacted to the initial news with not so much a question of when he would be back, but a question of when he would be himself again.

It's bad. Nothing to do but hope.

Just to be the voice of optimism, or at least the voice of restraint when it comes to doom and gloom:

Jaren Jackson had surgery in late June 2022 and was playing again in November of the same year (about 4.5 months). He went on the lead the NBA in blocks, make his first All-Star game, and win the DPOY that season.

Every injury and every recovery is different. Maybe let's just not make any major assumptions in either direction and see how this plays out. For now, I think the return to the boot is not, in and of itself, that concerning. The horror stories, which do exist, generally involve a structural issue, often a "regression in bone healing," and there has been no waffling or word salad as far as I can tell on that. Unless I'm misinterpreting BU here, it seems clear that structurally the bone is and hardware are fine.

 

[the juiceman cometh]

I am not trying to make this into a conspiracy and by no means am I a Doctor, but for BU to say there is no setback when he went from dunking and not wearing a boot to no longer playing and wearing a boot seems inaccurate. I would be curious what foot surgeries put in the recorvery plan for you to test out some dunks before going back into a boot.

Not trying to get into a semantic debate here on what a "setback" is but you're kinda forcing the issue.

If by "setback" you mean that the original optimistic timeline is not going to be met, then sure, it's probably a setback.

But I think what BU means, and what most of us would mean, by a setback is that there is re-injury, regression, or halt to the healing process. Under that definition, then the boot does not necessarily mean there has been a setback. The whole purpose of the boot is to reduce weight-bearing which gives the bone room to heal. At the same time, based on the insane amout of medical stuff I've read on this lunch break, it appears that you do want to ramp up weight bearing to a degree because that also spurs the healing process. It's not one or the other, but finding the right balance. They probably are assessing this on a continual basis and adjusting based on the new info they're seeing in scans and from talking to Mirk.

 

[IlliniPride]

Not trying to get into a semantic debate here on what a "setback" is but you're kinda forcing the issue.

If by "setback" you mean that the original optimistic timeline is not going to be met, then sure, it's probably a setback.

But I think what BU means, and what most of us would mean, by a setback is that there is re-injury, regression, or halt to the healing process. Under that definition, then the boot does not necessarily mean there has been a setback. The whole purpose of the boot is to reduce weight-bearing which gives the bone room to heal. At the same time, based on the insane amout of medical stuff I've read on this lunch break, it appears that you do want to ramp up weight bearing to a degree because that also spurs the healing process. It's not one or the other, but finding the right balance. They probably are assessing this on a continual basis and adjusting based on the new info they're seeing in scans and from talking to Mirk.

While I agree that this is a matter of semantics, to some extent, I am yet to see BU seem so apprehensive to give a straight answer as he did in this specific interview. His response and choice of words is what has a lot of the board stirred up and feeling uneasy. Personally, I have never had to decipher anything BU has stated over the year's as I think he is a clear speaker and says what he means and rarely mispeaks but this interview was chaotic and all over the place. It left lots of room for interpretation, interpretation that a lot of the board here never deemed necessary.

 

[Marthgiela]

While I agree that this is a matter of semantics, to some extent, I am yet to see BU seem so apprehensive to give a straight answer as he did in this specific interview. His response and choice of words is what has a lot of the board stirred up and feeling uneasy. Personally, I have never had to decipher anything BU has stated over the year's as I think he is a clear speaker and says what he means and rarely mispeaks but this interview was chaotic and all over the place. It left lots of room for interpretation, interpretation that a lot of the board here never deemed necessary.

I agree. Obviously he's not obligated to clarify anything to us and I don't think he's lying, but he is speaking incredibly orthogonally at times and that is going to lead to speculation. It's not just what he's saying, it's what he's not saying. Why is he so skittish about giving any concrete info? When our best player is suddenly out for an indeterminate amount of time right at the start of our most hyped season in 20 years, it's going to cause a lot of people to start talking.

 

[Illiniguy13]

 

[RichardKeenesCousin]

I got hurt sneezing last week.

 

[Illini4Christ]

Guys, it's not Watergate.

Mirk's injury was a fracture that was surgically repaired. There's a screw in there keeping it in place until the bone fuses. BU has been clear that structurally there is no problem with that. Reading between the lines, the latest scan probably just showed that the bone is taking longer to fuse than the initial, likely optimistic, timeline and so they put the boot back on to prevent a setback, not because of a setback. If there was a true setback, i.e. failure of the hardware, Mirk would be back in an operating room, not a boot.

Exactly. I am sure the surgeon did post x-ray or CT scan to look at the injury and look for bone callus (new bridge-like tissue forming over the break) and signs that the gap between bone fragment is filling in. I am sure it is healing fine but slower than what every Illini fan would expect but nothing to worry about. Mirk will be as good as new sooner than later.

 

[wc_illini]

Exactly. I am sure the surgeon did post x-ray or CT scan to look at the injury and look for bone callus (new bridge-like tissue forming over the break) and signs that the gap between bone fragment is filling in. I am sure it is healing fine but slower than what every Illini fan would expect but nothing to worry about. Mirk will be as good as new sooner than later.

Then why was he dunking? If it's all based on scans, and what they're seeing now says he should be in a boot and not practicing, then they either didn't check before he started dunking, or it looked better back then.

It's more plausible that they gradually cleared him for heavier activity, but then he felt pain and they put him back in the boot (even though there isn't any structural issue in the imaging) until that resolves. I'd call that a setback, though it wouldn't surprise me if BU wants to dance around saying that.

Or that he was dunking against doctor's orders, but I'm not going to assume anything like that.

 

[AnnoyedWithGarza]

Then why was he dunking? If it's all based on scans, and what they're seeing now says he should be in a boot and not practicing, then they either didn't check before he started dunking, or it looked better back then.

It's more plausible that they gradually cleared him for heavier activity, but then he felt pain and they put him back in the boot (even though there isn't any structural issue in the imaging) until that resolves. I'd call that a setback, though it wouldn't surprise me if BU wants to dance around saying that.

Or that he was dunking against doctor's orders, but I'm not going to assume anything like that.

I HIGHLY doubt he was doing anything in practice against doctor's orders.

I can see that he had some discomfort and as a precaution they put him back in the boot. I wouldn't call that a setback but I can see why other people would.

I'm also guessing he is doing some sort of pool activity and strengthing activity but they want him in the boot when he isn't under direct supervision from his medical team.

 

[illinifan323]

There are different parts of the foot, and depending on where it is, and the severity of the fracture, the time to heal can be quite different. Also, did you have surgery? That obviously impacts recovery time as well. A fracture that requires surgery and hardware is almost certainly going to take longer to recover than one that just requires someone to wear a boot while the bone fuses.

The team has not publicly released any info on where exactly the fracture is. And they are not obligated to. As one example of a type of injury that lines up more with Mirk's timeline than yours from 20 years ago, take a Jones fracture. A Jones fracture also requires surgical repair and hardware, and the Cleveland Clinic puts the estimated recovery time at 3-4 months post surgery. Mirk had his surgery in early August, so if this is the type of injury he had, his return timetable would be in the early November to December range.

What Is a Jones Fracture?

A Jones fracture is a common type of broken foot bone. Learn what causes them and how they’re treated.

my.clevelandclinic.org

I played college basketball 20 years agoand had the same Jones Fracture Surgery. They told me 6 weeks before I could start to ramp it up slowly. I needed 7 weeks before I could start to do more things without pain. I then needed another 2-3 weeks before I could really play ball. I had zero setbacks and like everyone else has said, everyone heals differently.

 

[Illini4Christ]

Then why was he dunking? If it's all based on scans, and what they're seeing now says he should be in a boot and not practicing, then they either didn't check before he started dunking, or it looked better back then.

It's more plausible that they gradually cleared him for heavier activity, but then he felt pain and they put him back in the boot (even though there isn't any structural issue in the imaging) until that resolves. I'd call that a setback, though it wouldn't surprise me if BU wants to dance around saying that.

Or that he was dunking against doctor's orders, but I'm not going to assume anything like that.

I am sure the dunking was done before the follow up x-ray.

 

[Bigtex]

I played college basketball 20 years agoand had the same Jones Fracture Surgery. They told me 6 weeks before I could start to ramp it up slowly. I needed 7 weeks before I could start to do more things without pain. I then needed another 2-3 weeks before I could really play ball. I had zero setbacks and like everyone else has said, everyone heals differently.

But the real question is did you have to put the boot back on?

 

[NarrowJ]

Bootgate '26 : The Screw is Loose (But Underwood Says It's Tight)

"I'm not saying its a setback, but I've never seen a precautionary scooter"

 

[Combo]

Then why was he dunking? If it's all based on scans, and what they're seeing now says he should be in a boot and not practicing, then they either didn't check before he started dunking, or it looked better back then.

It's more plausible that they gradually cleared him for heavier activity, but then he felt pain and they put him back in the boot (even though there isn't any structural issue in the imaging) until that resolves. I'd call that a setback, though it wouldn't surprise me if BU wants to dance around saying that.

Or that he was dunking against doctor's orders, but I'm not going to assume anything like that.

Good point. He had a fantastic season last year and I don't recall him ever dunking. (Like Keaton).

So why start when you're recovering my injury?

 

[the juiceman cometh]

But the real question is did you have to put the boot back on?

Genuine question: do people think a CAM boot is hard to take off and on? Some of these comments makes it sound like people think this is a hard cast or something.

 

[Illiniguy13]

I genuinely hope players don't look through Loyalty, but I can picture Mirk reading through these comments like

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

I am not trying to make this into a conspiracy and by no means am I a Doctor, but for BU to say there is no setback when he went from dunking and not wearing a boot to no longer playing and wearing a boot seems inaccurate. I would be curious what foot surgeries put in the recorvery plan for you to test out some dunks before going back into a boot.

I think that this best encompasses the situation. How did he go from being out of the boot, running, jumping, dunking, etc......to being back in a boot and on a scooter. Pretty sure the the doc/trainers didn't have this in the order of operations. Brad is saying there's no setback. I think we all believe that Brad is word salading his way through this because like others have said, he's not obligated to disclose anything. So, he's saying things without actually saying anything, YET, his commentary about the players being healthy for the long haul, making sure he's safe, etc all remains true. Nothing there has changed, but I think the timeline has substantially.

 

[Illinisnake]

There are different parts of the foot, and depending on where it is, and the severity of the fracture, the time to heal can be quite different. Also, did you have surgery? That obviously impacts recovery time as well. A fracture that requires surgery and hardware is almost certainly going to take longer to recover than one that just requires someone to wear a boot while the bone fuses.

The team has not publicly released any info on where exactly the fracture is. And they are not obligated to. As one example of a type of injury that lines up more with Mirk's timeline than yours from 20 years ago, take a Jones fracture. A Jones fracture also requires surgical repair and hardware, and the Cleveland Clinic puts the estimated recovery time at 3-4 months post surgery. Mirk had his surgery in early August, so if this is the type of injury he had, his return timetable would be in the early November to December range.

What Is a Jones Fracture?

A Jones fracture is a common type of broken foot bone. Learn what causes them and how they’re treated.

my.clevelandclinic.org

The top of my foot got crushed, did it playing basketball. No surgery, like I said everyone heals differently but going from walking around to back in a boot and riding a scooter, you don't need to be a doctor to see that a setback has happened.

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

IANAI, but my guess is that 19 year old Mirk did what 20 year old me did after an appendectomy and what 41 year old me did after a hernia operation — that is, rush back to work trying to prove he’s a He-Man only for realize rushing back may not have been the wise thing to do.

Fortunately, 19 year old Mirk has a highly trained medical staff at his disposal. Those two iterations of me did not.

 

[Det_Illini_fan]

I genuinely hope players don't look through Loyalty, but I can picture Mirk reading through these comments like

Maybe slightly different reasoning, not sure, but I began saying the same thing ever since year one of Humrichous. The vitriol, name calling, and just general awful stuff fans were saying about him and others in the past on social media is abhorrent, and really makes me lose faith. Be passionate, but leave hate out of it. These guys are young adults, and they will make mistakes.

 

[Guest]

I agree. Obviously, he's not obligated to clarify anything to us, and I don't think he's lying, but he is speaking incredibly orthogonally at times, and that is going to lead to speculation. It's not just what he's saying; it's what he's not saying. Why is he so skittish about giving any concrete info? When our best player is suddenly out for an indeterminate amount of time right at the start of our most hyped season in 20 years, it's going to cause a lot of people to start talking.

I liked this for using the word "orthogonally". Which, of course, I had to look up.

 

[EmpoweredIllini]

The top of my foot got crushed, did it playing basketball. No surgery, like I said everyone heals differently but going from walking around to back in a boot and riding a scooter, you don't need to be a doctor to see that a setback has happened.

i had an achilles tear as a soph in college at mckendree and they made me wear a boot only after practices and rehab work as began physical activity again, and other guys with lower body injures, ankles, feet etc all did the same far as i can recall so the boot proves nothing imo

the scooter seemed a bit much though so that part worrried me unless mirk was just being his silly old self

 

[mysterio2525]

i had an achilles tear as a soph in college at mckendree and they made me wear a boot only after practices and rehab work as began physical activity again, and other guys with lower body injures, ankles, feet etc all did the same far as i can recall so the boot proves nothing imo

the scooter seemed a bit much though so that part worrried me unless mirk was just being his silly old self

that's my hope

fusion - medium to high
sillyness - off the chart
fluidity and motion - excellent I mean the scooter

 

[RollChief]

that's my hope

fusion - medium to high
sillyness - off the chart
fluidity and motion - excellent I mean the scooter

Maybe he should wear two walking boots tonight to really throw us off the scent.

Mirk, if you're reading this, blink twice on camera if the bones are fusing fast and blink 3 times if they're fusing super fast.

All this boot talk reminds me of peak Ben Roethlisberger haha