Brutal. There's no other way to describe the season-ending injury suffered by Minnesota Gophers forward Isaiah Ihnen.
Just over a year since suffering a torn ACL in his left knee that ended his 2021-22 season, Ihnen has suffered another major injury to the same knee that has ended his 2022-23 season.
"It's disappointing to see Isaiah go through this after he worked hard to get back on the court this year and made significant strides to his game this summer," head coach Ben Johnson said. "We will be with him every step of the way in his road to recovery."
Ihnen was expected to be a key player this season for the Gophers. In late May, Johnson was a guest on ex-Vikings linebacker Ben Leber's podcast and raved about Ihnen, saying he had potential to be the best defensive player in the Big Ten.
"There's a lot of guys at the next level that look like [Ihnen]," Johnson said. "You can't find 6'10'' with 7'+ wingspan that moves like a guard. You just don't find that all the time. But the ones you do find, they're the ones on TV."
Minnesota also recently lost forward Parker Fox to a season-ending injury for a second consecutive year.
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