Redshirt possible for USF’s Smith

Posted Nov 30, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Nov 30, 2011 at 03:19 PM

Senior guard Andrea Smith still has not been medically cleared to return to action, and women’s basketball coach Jose Fernandez said this week that a redshirt year could be in play.

Smith, who averaged a team-best 16.5 points per game in 2010-11, is still trying to work her way back after offseason surgery to repair a torn ACL, an injury suffered in a loss to Pittsburgh in last season’s Big East tournament. She has been able to practice with the team, but the strength in her knee still is not where Fernandez and the team’s medical staff want it to be.

“Right now, if we get Andrea it’s a bonus,” Fernandez said. “And if not, we got a pretty good kid on next year’s roster.”

The Bulls have been extremely shorthanded to start the season with two of their best players unavailable in Smith and transfer Inga Orekhova, who becomes eligible in January, but improved to 5-3 (two losses to Top 25 teams) with a victory over Stetson on Monday. USF travels to Colorado Springs for two games at the Air Force Classic this weekend.