UNC announced early Friday morning that freshman guard Anthony Harris will undergo surgery next week for a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee and will miss the remainder of the season.

Harris suffered the injury on Dec. 30 in the final minutes of UNC’s win over Yale, collapsing to the ground after his knee buckled without any contact.

The injury left the Tar Heel players in coaches visibly shaken, as Harris had only just returned to practicing and playing with the team after recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee which he suffered in Dec. 2018 as a senior in high school.

“This is one of the most heartbreaking injuries one of my teams has ever dealt with,” head coach Roy Williams said Friday. “Anthony is such a great kid and his teammates and coaches have all seen the countless hours he put in to come back from the knee injury he suffered in high school.

“The impact on our locker room after the Yale game was devastating,” the coach added. “Everyone associated with our program hurts for Anthony and his family. But we will rally around him and support him every step of the way. I know he will work unbelievably hard to get back on the floor.”

 In five games since his return from the previous torn ACL–four of which have come since fellow freshman guard Cole Anthony was forced out of the lineup with a torn meniscus–Harris has averaged 6.8 points per game on 54.5 percent shooting from the floor.

His best game came in the Tar Heels’ 74-64 win over UCLA in Las Vegas on Dec. 21, when he scored all of his career-high 14 points in the second half to help seal the victory.

This injury is just the latest in a long line that UNC has had to deal with already this season, and by far the most serious.

All of the team’s primary backcourt players–Harris, Anthony, Brandon Robinson, Leaky Black,  Jeremiah Francis and Andrew Platek–have had to miss at least one game due to injury.

On top of that, freshman forward Armando Bacot has dealt with concussion symptoms and a sprained ankle, while junior big man Sterling Manley has not played a single minute and is out for the year with his own knee troubles.

Photo via Todd Melet

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