In a move that has seemed evident for a large portion of the season, the men’s basketball team declared senior forward Raheem Johnson out for the rest of the year due to foot surgery. The surgery took place three weeks ago, and Johnson is not scheduled to rehabilitate on the court for another two months.
“Done for the year,” said head coach Nate Oats at practice Monday. “He had his redshirt year available and was under the amount of games to save your year. That’s the plan. He has to do what he’s supposed to do academically, but if he does what he’s supposed to, he’ll be back year.”
Johnson’s foot problems started before the season even began and he played in just one game this season. He totaled four points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench in a loss against Iowa State on Dec. 7. Oats said following that game that Johnson didn’t feel comfortable, which led to a bigger injury that ended his season.
Johnson was a role player during the Bulls’ NCAA Tournament run last season – his first season at UB after two years at Barton Community College. He averaged 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. He previously played for Oats at Romulus High School in Detroit, Michigan.
He also was involved in the dorm theft this summer that left Mid-American Conference Player of the Year Justin Moss expelled from UB. Johnson and teammate Mory Diane, who left the program to transfer last month, were both suspended for Buffalo’s first game of the season.
Johnson is expected to return to the court for rehab in roughly two months.
Jordan Grossman is the co-senior sports editor and can be reached at jordan.grossman@ubspectrum.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jordanmgrossman.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
