CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Andre Stringer’s season is over.
The Island Storm point guard ruptured his Achilles tendon during Wednesday’s practice and will have surgery during the first week of March.
“I feel terrible for him,” head coach Tim Kendrick said Thursday morning. “He’s a great young man, and I really enjoyed having him with us.”
Stringer, who dealt with an elbow injury earlier this year, was averaging 16 points, five assists and three rebounds per game in his first season with the Storm. He was coming off a 32-point effort, which included going 8-for-8 from three-point territory, in Monday’s 122-117 victory over the Saint John Riptide.
The five-foot-10 Mississippi native was a four-year starter with the Louisiana State (LSU) Tigers in the NCAA and played for the Maine Red Claws in the NBA-G League.
Kendrick said the injury occurred when he went to plant during Wednesday’s practice with no one around him.
“He literally looked behind him because he thought someone hit him in the back of his leg,” the coach explained.
The team will miss its captain, the coach said, but it has to move forward and get ready for its next game Sunday in Sydney, N.S., against the Cape Breton Highlanders. The two teams are fighting for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
“We’ll be ready to go,” Kendrick said.
Stringer brought leadership, a quiet confidence and the ability to stretch the floor with his shooting range.
“Andre was an important piece of our team, for sure,” Kendrick said. “We’d love to have him with us.”
But that’s not reality.
“There’s nothing you can do about it, and no one’s feeling sorry for us,” Kendrick said. “We’ll have to find a way, all of us.”
Guard Roshun Wynne Jr., who signed with the Storm on Tuesday, arrived in Prince Edward Island Thursday and practised with his new teammates. He will see ball-handling duties along with Franklin Session, Kemy Osse and Tyler Scott.
“He fits us,” Kendrick said of Wynne’s style. “He’ll get up and down and he’s a tenacious defender.”
Forward Carl Hall, who was acquired in a trade with Niagara, has not reported yet, but the team is in discussions with him and the league. Brad States (concussion) was cleared on Thursday and practised with the team.
