courtesy WKU sports information

Bowling Green, Ky.    Western Kentucky University men's basketball center Chris Marcus will be sidelined 4-6 weeks recovering from a foot injury that has nagged the 7-1, 285-pound senior since late October.

     Marcus has been diagnosed with an ankle stress fracture of the left foot.  The condition is a result of an ankle injury he suffered in practice on Oct. 28.  He will be non-weight-bearing for 4-6 weeks and will then be reevaluated to determine when he will be able to return to action.  Team physicians and the Hilltopper sports medicine staff expect a full recovery.

     The product of Olympic High School in Charlotte, N.C., has missed considerable practice time since sustaining the original ankle sprain.  However, he played in both Hilltopper exhibitions (both WKU wins) and Western's five regular season games.

     He has been a vital factor in the Toppers' success to date a 4-1 record and a current ranking among the Top 25 teams in the nation by both The Associated Press (17th) and ESPN/USA Today (18th).

     The MVP of the season-opening NABC Classic, he leads WKU in scoring (14.6 ppg), rebounding (9.2 rpg) and blocked shots (11).  He has recorded double-doubles in three of those five games.

     A member of virtually every '01-02 preseason All-America Team, Marcus led the nation in rebounding last season with his 12.1 average.  And, he ranked among the nation's leaders in both double-doubles and blocked shots.

     He was selected the Sun Belt Conference Player-of-the-Year and earned SBC Defensive Player-of-the-Year laurels for the second straight season last spring after the Hilltoppers won conference regular season and tournament crowns on their way to a 24-7 campaign and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.