Tech’s Raines expected to miss 10 weeks with broken foot

BLACKSBURG -- Cadarian Raines, a former Petersburg High forward who will be a freshman on Virginia Tech's basketball team this season, broke his left foot Tuesday and will miss about 10 weeks.

Raines fractured the fifth metatarsal -- the long bone on the outside of the foot that connects to the little toe -- when he stepped on a teammate's foot during a workout, said team trainer Chad Hyatt. The injury is common among athletes, so Hyatt is optimistic about Raines' recovery. Raines will undergo surgery today and have a screw put into the bone to help push the broken pieces together.

A 10-week recovery period targets Raines' return for the first week of December. The Hokies begin the season Nov. 15 at home against Brown. Tech coach Seth Greenberg hoped Raines, who is 6-9 and 238 pounds, could provide another post presence.

"He's a really good player," Greenberg said yesterday. "He's got an ACC body right now. He's got to learn to pursue every ball and attack the rim scoring-wise. But he's really, really got tremendous potential."

The Hokies lost senior Cheick Diakite (6-9, 217) after last season. Their returning post players are junior Jeff Allen (6-7, 230), senior Lewis Witcher (6-9, 218), sophomore Victor Davila (6-8, 245) and redshirt freshman Gene Swindle (6-11, 260).

Allen was Tech's third-leading scorer and leading rebounder last season. His 13.7 points per game ranked behind senior A.D. Vassallo and sophomore Malcolm Delaney. Allen grabbed 8.4 rebounds per game. Davila was the next-most productive post player with 3.1 points and two rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.

Though Greenberg is disappointed about the practice time Raines will miss, he doesn't want to rule out Raines contributing this season.

"We're not going to determine anything until he has the surgery and (we see) what his recovery pattern is," Greenberg said. "It's all individual."

Petersburg coach Bill Lawson spoke with Raines on Tuesday after he broke his foot. During a 20-minute conversation in which Lawson did most of the talking, he told Raines about the importance of attending every practice.

"He was a little disappointed but not too bad," Lawson said. "It's a setback, but I just emphasized making sure that he tries to stay on the same level academically and just understanding what they're doing. He needs to be there the whole time so he won't be behind mentally. He won't be able to do it physically but he needs to at least see what's going on. This will give him some time to sort of see what's going on."

Raines was a second-team all-state selection last season by the Associated Press. He wasfirst-team All-Metro. The Central Region player of the year, he led Petersburg to a region championship and a spot in the Group AAA state semifinals and a 30-1 record. Raines averaged 15.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks while shooting 65 percent from the floor.