University of Pittsburgh basketball coach Jamie Dixon announced today that senior guards James Robinson and Sterling Smith underwent surgery today.
Robinson had surgery on his right foot; Smith on his right ankle.
This stuff always seems to fly under the radar in the offseason until it actually happens. Nothing major here, but you never want to hear about surgeries to key players, obviously.
Robinson and Smith could potentially be the starting backcourt. Robinson is the lock at point guard and while Smith is less of a sure thing to start, he could very well factor into the discussion. And when you add in Josh Newkirk's surgery announced in May, the Panthers' guards are just banged up.
The good news is that both guys (as is Newkirk) are expected to be ready for training camp and the regular season. The downside is that they'll miss some time over the summer and it sounds like Newkirk and Robinson will be out of the Summer League Pro-Am, which starts in a few weeks.
The other thing to remember here is that all of these guys are veterans and now upperclassmen. While all three could use the summer to work on their games, these aren't guys that are brand new to D-I basketball. Assuming they are indeed ready for practice leading up to the start of the season, the impact should be minimal
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