Utah State’s Neemias Queta Injures Knee During FIBA Action In Portugal
Queta injured his left knee in the semifinals against Russia
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Current status is unknown for the Utah State big man
Utah State sophomore center Neemias Queta injured his knee during Saturday’s FIBA U-20 tournament against Russia, a 76-69 victory.
It appears that Queta stepped on the foot of a teammate and came down awkwardly late in the third quarter.
Utah State athletics writer Jason Walker said that Queta returned to the bench later and participated in the postgame handshake line.
Walker added that Queta was walking without help afterwards with an ice pack on his knee.
Queta, who is averaging 14.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in this tournament, is one of the top players in the Mountain West and will likely compete for the league’s player of the year award. The big man declared for the NBA Draft in the spring but opted to return for a sophomore season.
The Utah State star was named both freshman of the year and defensive player of the year this past season, averaging 11.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while shooting 61.4 percent from the field.
His status moving forward is currently unknown.
Eli Boettger is the lead basketball writer at Mountain West Wire. He’s covered Mountain West basketball since 2015 and his work has been featured on Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, SB Nation, Yahoo Sports, MSN, and other platforms. Boettger is a current USBWA member.