Hey look everyone, it's the worst news in the world! Via Jim McGill.
Stress fractures are tricky beasts. If they're mild, you can probably be back in a week or two. But general recovery period is probably around four to six weeks, meaning Solomon would miss most of the first go-around of the Pac-12 schedule. And if it's bad, well...let's not think about it yet.
Given how thin Cal seems to be behind Harper Kamp and David Kravish, this injury couldn't come at a much worse time. While Cal has been a pretty good team rebounding team, Solomon is the team's most reliable big man rebounder and would probably be counted on to handle most of the load when team rebounding falters. One can only hope this setback is minor and Solomon returns to action sooner rather than later.
If Solomon is out for an extended period, it means Kravish slates in and has to play at least 30 minutes a game. Ick. It means Robert Thurman might have to do more than just spot in and Bak Bak really has to make important plays in the flow of the game. Yikes. And It could wear out Kamp when he has to play teams with strong big man presence, like UNLV, UCLA, Washington or Furd.
Nothing at all to like about this news. SO PANIC! It's what Cal fans do best.
UPDATE: Jeff Faraudo reports three weeks. No confirmation though.
If it is three, Solomon will miss games against UCSB, UNLV, UCLA, USC, Oregon and Oregon State. Critical stretch of our schedule. The Bears need to probably go at least 4-2, and anything under that puts us in danger zone territory.
UPDATE #2: Maybe it's minor after all. Monty states (via Breech and Gorcey) that Solomon will miss only two games (although there is no official return date listed). Best possible news if he can return for the conference schedule.