Kevin Keatts not sure Dusan Mahorcic will return from injury this season

It’s been a little over three months since Dusan Mahorcic went down with a knee injury that required surgery; usually that kind of thing puts an end to the injured player’s season, but Mahorcic has been doing everything he can to get back on the court.

He’s even been participating in some pre-game warmups. But Kevin Keatts didn’t sound optimistic about Mahorcic’s return when asked about it on Monday:

But it’s a challenge because he’s working really hard — as hard as anyone that I’ve ever had — to try to get back from the injury. And I certainly hope it happens for him. But it’s gonna be a challenge and I don’t want the expectations to be, ‘Hey, he’s definitely coming back.’ Because I would say it’s probably 50-50 at this moment.

It sounds like a fluid situation with his recovery—Keatts noted that Mahorcic had a similar injury at Utah and that’s not helping.

It’d be great to have him back in the fold, though realistically, that would need to happen pretty soon in order for him to get back into effective game shape ahead of the postseason. We’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

On the bright side, NC State has adjusted about as well as could be expected in his absence—DJ Burns obviously being the primary reason for that—and some of the problems (namely at the defensive end) I thought might materialize never did.

Keatts said they haven’t talked about a potential medical waiver at this point, and that wouldn’t be a discussion until Mahorcic’s return is completely ruled out.