After suffering from a season-ending tear to his right Achilles tendon during a late November game, Pepperdine men’s basketball coach Marty Wilson has announced that senior point guard Amadi Udenyi will apply for a medical redshirt to join the Waves in the 2017-18 season.
The Oakland native sustained the injury just six games into the 2016-17 season, making it his second season-ending injury of his collegiate career. Udenyi tore his left Achilles tendon in the 2014-15 season, causing him to miss the year’s final seven games. Before his most recent injury, the star player lead the Waves in assists, averaging 5.3 a game — ranking him 11th all-time at Pepperdine in assists, with 331.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision for me because, as a competitor, I knew I didn’t want to end my career with an injury,” Udenyi said in a press release provided to The Malibu Times. “Once I tore it, I knew I wanted to redshirt and come back. Surgery went well. I feel like I have more movement in my ankle at this point than I did last time. I should be ready to go next season because things are going well. One of the hardest parts is watching the other seniors I came in with and knowing that I won’t get the chance to play with them again.”
Wilson is looking forward to having the floor leader and tough on-ball defender back on the squad next season.
“I felt for Amadi as soon as I saw his face and his reaction to tearing his Achilles again,” Wilson said in the statement. “We will be glad to have him back in the lineup next season. He knows how to bounce back from this injury and we can’t wait to see him on the floor again.”