Houston Cougars Guard Marcus Sasser Suffers Injury Ahead of March Madness
Published March 13 2023, 3:44 p.m. ET
It's the most wonderful time of the year — March Madness! On Sunday, March 12, the NCAA selection committee announced the 68-team roster for the men's basketball single-elimination tournament; as of now, one of the teams to watch is the University of Houston Cougars. They've been fantastic this season, thanks to star guard Marcus Sasser.
Despite his superstar-like quality on the court, it's currently unknown if Marcus will actually play in the NCAA tournament — why is that? Well, just days before March Madness, the 22-year-old athlete suffered a pretty nasty injury. What happened? Here's what we know, including an update on Marcus's condition.
Marcus Sasser injury update: Will he be back for March Madness?
On Saturday, March 11, with nearly seven minutes to go in the first half of the AAC tournament semifinals, Marcus headed to the locker room for medical treatment after slipping while dribbling and falling to the floor in an awkward split.
According to Sporting News, he was initially listed as "probable to return" to the game before being ruled out at halftime.
"He is undergoing treatment at the team hotel tonight and will be re-evaluated by associate athletic director for sports medicine John Houston and team doctors on Sunday," the school said after the game, per ESPN. "Marcus is questionable for Sunday's [AAC title game] against Memphis/Tulane, and his playing status will be a game-time."
Houston ended up battling for the championship without AAC player of the year Marcus Sasser, who was ruled out with a strained groin. Sadly, they couldn't overcome his absence, falling to the Memphis Tigers 75-65. No biggie, Houston still managed to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament following one dominant regular season.
But, will Marcus be medically cleared in time?
Ahead of the tournament, the first-team All-AAC honoree told reporters he had "a little pain in certain movements," adding that he "played it safe" by sitting out of the AAC championship game. Marcus also said he believes he'll be ready to go by Houston's first-round matchup against Northern Kentucky on Thursday, March 16.
The 2023 March Madness tournament begins with First Four on Tuesday, March 14 at 6:40 p.m. EST on truTV. First-round games officially kick off on Thursday, March 16 at 12:15 p.m. EST and will be broadcast across four cable networks: CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. It will also be streamed on Paramount Plus.
