Foot fracture and a pin is the most detail we’ve gotten on the injury thus far. Wishing Mirk a good long term recovery.Haven't seen it on here yet, but Scott Richey published some brief comments from Tyler Underwood on Mirk's progress:
Good Morning, Illini Nation: A David Mirkovic update
"David's a great listener. He loves to learn, and he's attacking it great and is in good spirits."www.news-gazette.com
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
Yeah Tyler was on Saturday morning sportsline in Champaign. Loren Tate said he heard from people who know that when you put that pin in with a stress fracture it makes it even stronger.
Oh, we’re getting Mirk Prime now?
I think the issue post-these surgeries is not necessarily re-injuring the same issue. But, rather, it’s rushing back to full contact and injuring an adjacent part of the body that’s atrophied during recovery.
We hope.
I'm far from a doctor, so purely speculating... but I think some of the high-tech recovery things they're able to do now (underwater treadmill, etc.) paired with the relatively short duration of the recovery makes this less likely than if it was a more significant compound fracture or soft tissue injury where he was much more limited in movement for a more extended period of time.
I would imagine the goal now is to maintain as much strength and conditioning gained over the summer as possible during the 6-8 week recovery.