Josh Hairston “doubtful” for Thursday night’s game against NC State

As if Duke’s frontcourt wasn’t thin enough with Ryan Kelly out indefinitely, Josh Hairston has been declared doubtful for a huge game on Thursday against NC State that will go a long way in determining the ACC race and Duke’s potential seeding in the NCAA Tournament. In an injury I can’t recall ever seeing keeping a player out of action, Hairston has been diagnosed with an arm infection following a cut he sustained during the Wake Forest game. You can see his arm bandaged in the picture to the right, and I can only guess that whatever Deacons player was responsible for the cut is an unclean derelict that has no business being on a basketball court. Regardless of what Hairston has been officially diagnosed with (it must be bad to potentially keep him out of action), the Blue Devils will miss his defense on the blocks against one of the better frontcourts in the conference in CJ Leslie and Richard Howell. In the eight-point loss to the Wolfpack in January, Hairston started and played ...