Illini basketball's Kendrick Nunn to have thumb surgery

Illinois+Kendrick+Nunn+%2825%29+looks+to+drive+to+the+basket+during+the+game+against+Michigan+State+at+State+Farm+Center%2C+on+Feb.+22%2C+2014.+The+Illini+lost+60-53.

Illinois’ Kendrick Nunn (25) looks to drive to the basket during the game against Michigan State at State Farm Center, on Feb. 22, 2014. The Illini lost 60-53.

By Peter Bailey-Wells

The latest Illinois basketball injury is going to have lasting effects.

Junior shooting guard Kendrick Nunn will have surgery Wednesday to repair a ligament in his left thumb. 

He injured the thumb during practice on Oct. 13. The program initially announced Nunn’s injury on Oct. 15, the same day he was scheduled to appear at Big Ten basketball media day in Chicago.

Instead he spent the day in Champaign seeing a hand specialist. Nunn’s recovery is expected to take approximately eight weeks. That projected recovery time would have Nunn returning before the Illini’s game against South Dakota on Dec. 19.

He joins fifth-year senior Tracy Abrams (torn Achilles), sophomore Leron Black (torn meniscus), junior Jaylon Tate (concussion) and freshman Jalen Coleman-Lands (stress fracture) who have been injured in the preseason. Tate and Coleman-Lands are expected to be healthy for the Illini’s Nov. 8 exhibition opener.

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@pbaileywells