BASKETBALL

Marquette recruit Joey Hauser to miss rest of season at Stevens Point with ankle injury

Stevens Point Journal

Joey Hauser, a 6-foot-8 senior forward and consensus top 50 national recruit in the Class of 2018, is expected to miss the remainder of the season after undergoing ankle surgery Monday.

STEVENS POINT – For several weeks, Joey Hauser and his family have been bracing for bad news regarding the health of the top-40 national recruit.

That news was confirmed when Hauser, who has signed to play at Marquette next year, learned he likely will miss the rest of the 2017-'18 high school basketball season after undergoing ankle surgery Monday to repair cartilage damage.

"We've had a little time to go through some grieving," said his mother, Stephanie, who noted a recent MRI revealed some structural issues with the ankle. "(Joey's) really upset. He's devastated.

"He also understands the big picture. More than anything, he needs to be healthy again and be 100 percent. This is the first step in a positive direction."

She noted that the Jones Fracture surgery Joey underwent at the end of this past summer likely was related to the ankle problem. In compensating for the ankle issue, he put extra stress on his foot.

Hauser, a 6-foot-8 senior center/forward at Stevens Point, has been dealing with the injury since hurting the ankle in a 2016 state quarterfinal football playoff victory over Bay Port.

Dr. Bob Anderson performed the surgery in Green Bay to clean out and repair the cartilage damage. A full recovery is expected.

Hauser signed a letter-of-intent with Marquette on Nov. 9 during the fall signing period. Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski was present for the surgery.

"We feel real fortunate that Dr. Anderson performed the surgery," Stephanie Hauser said. "He's real optimistic how the surgery went and feels (Joey) will have a full recovery and has a bright future (in basketball)."

Joey will be reunited at Marquette with his brother, Sam, a sophomore averaging 13.2 points and 5.7 rebounds for the Golden Eagles this season.

The loss of Hauser, who averaged 23.6 points and 11.5 rebounds a game as a junior, deals a huge blow to Stevens Point's chances of winning a fourth consecutive Division 1 state championship.

Joey missed 11 games to open the 2016-'17 season due to the ankle injury. The Panthers went 10-1 in his absence a year ago on the way to a third straight state title.

Now SPASH will have to lean even more on senior Drew Blair, a Division II Northwest Missouri State recruit who is averaging 33.0 points and 7.7 rebounds through three games.

In addition, the rest of the team will be called upon to step up and fill a huge void.

"Unfortunately, we have the experience already of playing without Joey for basically a half a year last season," SPASH coach Scott Anderson said.

"But the fact of the matter, we spun it into a positive (last season) and some other kids developed and grew, and we were stronger for the experience at the end of the season. We're hopeful for the same scenario."

The Panthers are 2-1 heading into their Wisconsin Valley Conference opener with Marshfield on Tuesday night.