Sophomore guard Joe Bramanti will miss Monday’s first round game vs. NJIT with a significant knee injury that he has been playing with the entire season. The UNH coaching staff learned a few months ago that Bramanti would need surgery done on cartilage in his knee at the end of the season. The surgery and recovery time is five months. After much debate, Bramanti and the coaches decided to shut it down for the season.
“We got him through a tough stretch and he finished the season,” head coach Bill Herrion said. “We knew right when the season was over he was going to have to have surgery.”
Bramanti has surgery scheduled for Tuesday. The decisions to shut it down was based off the fact that the Wildcats will need Bramanti to be healthy to help them into one of the most promising years this program has ever seen.
Without Bramanti, the Wildcats lose a guy who started 19 games and was selected to the America East all defensive team. Bramanti also averaged 4.5 points a game with 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
Herrion is faced with a decision to make in finding the sophomore’s replacement. If the Wildcats choose to go small, it could be sophomore guard Daniel Dion or junior Ronnell Jordan. If the Wildcats choose size, junior Frank Okeke would be a likely choice.
“I’m not sure what we are going to do with the starting lineup Monday night,” Herrion said. “Daniel, if he starts or comes off the bench, is going to have to give us some big minutes at the one (guard) .”
In lighter news, head coach Bill Herrion is one of 16 finalists for the Skip Prosser Man of The Year Award. The award is given, by CollegeInsider.com, to a Division I coach who not only has success on the court, but also displays moral integrity off it. Herrion and the other 15 finalists will be in Indianapolis on April 3 for the award banquet.
The Wildcats will take the court Monday night at NJIT for the first round of the CIT. The game will begin at 7 p.m. at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.