Cam Whitmore to undergo thumb surgery, will be re-evaluated in November

The Villanova Wildcats announced some unfortunate news regarding prized freshman Cam Whitmore.

The former McDonald’s All-American will undergo surgery on his shooting hand for his right thumb, after injuring it during practice on Wednesday. He will be sidelined in order to recover and his status will be re-evaluated in early November, according to the team.

“We’re disappointed for Cam,” said Villanova coach Kyle Neptune in a statement. “Throughout the preseason he’s worked hard to learn our concepts and what it takes to be effective in the Big East. This is temporary setback, though, and we know Cam will approach his rehab with a great attitude.”

Whitmore was a five-star prospect coming out of Archbishop Spaulding (Md.). In addition to McDonald’s All-American honors, he was also named the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year and helped Team USA capture gold at the FIBA U-18 Americas championship last June.

He was noticeably not participating in the Blue-White Scrimmage on Thursday night and now the countdown to his recovery and debut begins.

Whitmore is the latest line of pre-season injuries for the ‘Cats, and also continues a trend of Villanova hand injuries from over the last five years.

Justin Moore remains out while he recovers from achilles surgery. Caleb Daniels, who also didn’t participate in the Blue-White Scrimmage, suffered a broken nose. The team also confirmed Trey Patterson has a sports hernia.

Brendan Hausen had a concussion that forced him to miss Hoops Mania, but he returned to play in Thursday’s Blue-White Scrimmage.