Report: 7-foot-7 player has partial foot amputationby FOXSports.com
Updated: October 18, 2008, 6:57 AM EST 12 comments add this RSS blog email Print Kenny George of UNC Asheville, the nation's tallest basketball player at 7-foot-7, had a partial amputation of his right foot, according to his high-school coach and a long-time family friend.
George has had at least two surgeries and other procedures after his right foot became infected at a summer camp for big men in Las Vegas, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported.
"This just breaks our heart," Coach Dave VanderMeulen of Chicago Latin, where George played in high school, told the paper.
"I've talked to Kenny, and he's dealing with what kind of mountain he's facing and reflecting on what could have been � his parents are trying to keep his spirits up, but they are devastated, as any parents would whose child lost part of a limb."
Asheville Coach Eddie Biedenbach declined to talk about specifics of George's condition but offered a statement based on the probability that George wouldn't play this season.
"This is a really terrible setback for Kenny," Biedenbach said. "He worked so hard to get into the situation where he could play last year and was working hard to be ready for this season."
George averaged 12.4 points and seven rebounds in less than 20 minutes per game last season. He was named the Big South Conference's defensive player of the year and blocked 93 shots while also leading Division I in field-goal percentage (.696).
George became the first player in school history to record a triple-double when he scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 10 shots at Campbell last November.
