A day later, Isaac Haas still out
DETROIT — A day after being ruled out for the season with a fractured right elbow, Isaac Haas remains very unlikely to play again this season, and certainly not Sunday vs. Butler, Coach Matt Painter said Saturday.
The Boilermakers' senior center did work out some during Purdue's Saturday morning practice, largely left-handed, and the program has sought permission from the NCAA for him to be able to use a specific brace, but Painter portrayed the latter as more a move to help Haas' spirits, to "keep the dream alive," so to speak.
"I'm not a doctor, but I wouldn't think he plays," Painter said. "He fractured his elbow."
Haas is expected to undergo surgery. It's not yet known when that will take place.
Again, Haas did participate to some small extent in practice Saturday morning, though apparently not in any sort of team context.
"He wants to play and he wants to get out there," Painter said. "He's out there shooting left-handed free throws and running the court. Your legs aren't broken when you fracture your elbow, so you can do that.
"So people see you out there and they jump to that conclusion. But for him to be out there with his teammates, in warmups, I think that's pretty cool."
After Purdue's win over Cal State Fullerton, Haas told reporters in the Boilermakers' open locker room that he expected to be fine, though he noted some irregular sounds in his elbow. Teammates joked about how often the massive center hits the floor hard and how they're conditioned to assume that he's always OK.
But as soon as the locker room closed, Haas went to the Little Caesars Arena X-ray facility down the hall from the Detroit Pistons locker room — Purdue's locker room this week — and the scan revealed the fracture.
Painter said he was "shocked" when he received a text message notifying him, because he didn't even know the severity of the injury was a possibility.
Purdue played no games with the news, announcing it immediately.
"When something happens, I think you just be honest and forthright," Painter said. "I think that's the best policy."
Now, though there's been some glimmer of optimism that Purdue's announcement might turn out premature, the reality for it is that it's overwhelmingly likely that Haas' Purdue career is, in fact, finished.
"It is what it is," Painter said. "His future's more important."
More to come throughout the day.
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