EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo announced on Wednesday that junior guard Joshua Langford will miss the remainder of the 2018-19 season.
"It's with great sadness that I have to announce that after numerous studies, rehabilitation and an attempt at return, it has been determined that Josh will miss the remainder of the season," Izzo said. "Josh has a stress injury that we caught fairly early and we had hoped that, with treatment and rest, he would recover. He has not, and will likely need surgery to prevent problems in the future.
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"We hate this for Josh and our team, as he was one of our leading scorers, one of our top 3-point shooters and one of our two best defensive guards. But our commitment to Josh and his long term health is paramount. Josh has seen the best specialist in the country on this issue and we are putting together a plan for his complete recovery for the 2019-20 season.
"Throughout the process, Josh has done everything asked of him, while maintaining an amazing attitude and doing whatever he could to help his teammates. His selfless attitude is the reason there were tears throughout the meeting room when we shared the news with his team. I've never felt worse for a player than I do for Josh, but he's a very religious kid who believes everything happens for a reason. He's constantly telling me to not worry about him, but focus on the team. It's the reason I have so much respect and admiration for the way he's handled the injury."
Langford has missed the last eight games and has not played for the Spartans since appearing for 12 minutes of the first half against Northern Illinois on Dec. 29.
One of the team's co-captains, Langford was third on the team in scoring with 15.0 points per game (16.0 ppg prior to the Northern Illinois game), fourth with 3.6 rebounds, third with 2.3 assists, third on the team in 3-point field goal percentage (40.3 percent) and third in minutes played (28.4 per game).
Michigan State has a 7-1 record in the Big Ten Conference games which Langford has missed.
