Michigan State's Denzel Valentine out 2-3 weeks

By foxsports
Published

Michigan State, the top team in the nation, announced that senior wing Denzel Valentine, one of the early favorites for National Player of the Year, is out for up to three weeks with a knee injury he suffered in practice on Sunday.

The 6-foot-5 Valentine, who has recorded a pair of triple-doubles this season, is leading the Spartans in almost every statistical category: points, rebounds, assists, steals and minutes played. He's averaging 18.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game.

Valentine will miss Sparty's regular-season finale against Oakland on Tuesday and the start of Big Ten play.

The Spartans open league play with back-to-back road games at Iowa and Minnesota. If Valentine were to be out three weeks, he'd also miss matchups with Illinois and at Penn State. Given the timetable, he should return for the rematch with the Hawkeyes on Jan. 14.

Michigan State matched the school's best start in school history on Saturday at Northeastern.