St. John's University Athletics
St. John??' Lamont Hamilton Will Not Require Knee Surgery
3/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. John???s senior forward Lamont Hamilton will not need surgery to repair his partially torn patella tendon, according to Red Storm and New York Knicks orthopedist, Answorth Allen, M.D.
Hamilton will be able to rest his injured knee while maintaining a steady conditioning and training regimen for the next six to eight weeks, under the direction of St. John???s Director of Strength and Conditioning for Men???s and Women???s Basketball, Jeff Smith. In the coming months, Hamilton will complete his degree in sports management with a business minor, as he prepares for graduation in May and a career in professional basketball.
???Lamont???s acute injury to his patella tendon should be healed in the next six to eight weeks, and he should be able to return to full activity, such as the rigors of basketball practice or games,??? said Allen after performing his evaluation of Hamilton???s knee and MRI on Tuesday, March 6. ???We expect Lamont to make a full recovery from this injury, and he will be back to full-strength soon.???
???It is great that I won???t need surgery, and that I will be able to continue to train and prepare myself for my professional basketball career,??? said Hamilton. ???I wish I could be helping my team on the floor right now, but as I said before I will support my team and try to lead from the bench.???
Hamilton suffered the injury in the first half of St. John???s victory over Providence on Sunday, March 4. The senior collided with teammate Anthony Mason Jr. and a Providence player while attempting to block a shot. The collision caused an injury to Hamilton???s knee that was originally diagnosed as a hyperextension.
Hamilton underwent a MRI at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan on Monday, March 5, and was examined by team doctor Osric King, M.D., and St. John???s Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Medicine, Ron Linfonte, A.T.C. The MRI revealed the partially-torn tendon.
Hamilton was named a Wooden and Naismith National Player of the Year candidate at the beginning of the season, and led the Red Storm with averages of 13.4 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game en route to 2007 first team All-BIG EAST honors. He became the 43rd player in St. John???s history to reach the 1,000 career point plateau, and finished his career with the Red Storm ranked 28th in school history with 1,216 points. He also grabbed 682 career rebounds to finish ranked 22nd all-time on the career charts. Hamilton is one of only six players in St. John???s 99-year basketball history to amass as many as 1,100 career points, 650 rebounds and 100 blocked shots.
