WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina

Concrete status on Lawson return yet to come

By Tim Hall

Mar 20, 2009

You wouldn't think an injury to a toe could carry on this long.  But the big toe is a vital tool for a player as fast as Ty Lawson when it comes to cutting, stopping and jumping.

It has been 12 days and three games since Lawson last played a game, and the words surrounding his status for Saturday's date with LSU remained ambiguous.

After Thursday's first round victory over Radford words like "hopefully," "might," "think" and "probably" were used by the junior point guard. 

But he did speak somewhat more concretely when asked if he thought he could have played in the opening round.

"I think so. I mean, I didn't run full speed on it but it's not pain anymore when I'm running -  it's just stiffness," Lawson said.  "I'm ready to play."

However ready to play Lawson said he was after the Radford win, his playing status will likely depend on his practice performance Friday afternoon.  Even after that it will come down to a coach's decision.

Something more definitive could come after Friday's practice sessions at Greensboro Coliseum.  WRAL Sports and 99.9 The Fan will bring you the latest on his status.