Sean Kilpatrick undergoes knee surgery, out 2-4 weeks

Bill Koch, bkoch@enquirer.com 3:53 p.m. EDT August 20, 2014


Former Bearcats guard Sean Kilpatrick (Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Former University of Cincinnati guard Sean Kilpatrick underwent surgery Wednesday morning to repair a slight tear of the meniscus cartilage in his right knee.

He is expected to be out two to four weeks while he rehabs.

A first-team All-American and the second-leading scorer in UC history, Kilpatrick was not taken in the NBA draft in late June and still has not signed to play next season.

"He had a slight tear that caused him pain and swelling," said his father, Sean Kilpatrick Sr. "Somebody else could have a tear that's three times worse and have no pain. They had to do two MRIs to find this."

The tear was actually discovered shortly after the end of UC's 2013-14 season, but the decision was made to rehab the knee rather than have surgery. Kilpatrick skipped the NBA scouting combine in Chicago in May because of what he said then was a minor knee injury, but he played in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas for the Philadelphia 76ers.

It was in the summer league when Kilpatrick Sr. could see that his son was still struggling with the knee.

"Sean is not even 70 percent," Kilpatrick Sr. said. "You could see he was limping, not even a slight limp. If they knew how bad it was, they would have given him an 'A' for just being out there. Sean goes out there and scored 19 and 20 points on a bum knee.

"I don't think Sean was healthy all year last year. I can't put a finger on when the injury happened because Sean is an iron man. He's not going to be straight up about it. When he went to the basket twice against Harvard (in the NCAA Tournament), I could tell he was hurt. The day they got back from (the Harvard game), Sean woke me up. I slept in his room that night. He said, 'I can't even move my leg.' "

Kilpatrick Sr. said that five NBA teams are interested in signing Sean or inviting him to their camp. One of them is the Los Angeles Lakers, who are scheduled to meet with Sean and his surgeon on Thursday in New York.

In retrospect, Kilpatrick Sr. says the knee injury might have been the reason Sean was not drafted.

"It has to be," he said, "because he didn't work out at the combine. There has to be a reason why he's not at the combine."

Kilpatrick Sr. said he's confident his son will overcome this setback.

"He's down, but he's so strong," Kilpatrick Sr. said. "My son made me strong. Sean taught me what strong really is. He thought he did everything right. Not only is he not signed, they're trying to get him in a camp."

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/ucathlet.../14349127/

Hopeful for a full recovery and successful professional career for UC great SK. He deserves all the best.

It's interesting to read this though as he didn't seem quite the same player the last few games of the regular season and in both tournaments. I figured it was fatigue from carrying the team offensively all year. It now appears his knee injury could have been a contributing factor.

(08-21-2014 07:24 AM)indycat Wrote:  Hopeful for a full recovery and successful professional career for UC great SK. He deserves all the best.

It's interesting to read this though as he didn't seem quite the same player the last few games of the regular season and in both tournaments. I figured it was fatigue from carrying the team offensively all year. It now appears his knee injury could have been a contributing factor.

Yeah, everyone was dogging him the last few games- saying he was not contributing like he shouldve been.

Wonder if that was reason. Weird we never hear about til now. Wonder if they were keepin it under wraps to enhance his draft stock.

I know its hindsight, but he got really bad advice not cleaning this up immediately after the season. I'm glad it sounds like he will still get invited to camp. Hopefully there are no complications during the rehab.

I would hide my injury too if I had to go to Colisimo to fix it.