There’s some 32-year-old irony to Cole Anthony’s knee surgery.

So the prognosis for the Carolina freshman’s return after arthroscopic knee surgery is anywhere from four weeks to eight weeks to repair a partially torn right meniscus, presumably suffered during practice some time last week.

Anthony sat out Sunday’s loss to Wofford at Carmichael Arena, after which his exact injury was diagnosed. Knee problems can range from relatively minor surgery to major blowouts that often take up to a year for complete rehabilitation. Hopefully, Anthony will return sooner than later.

If transfer K.J. Smith starts again in Anthony’s place Wednesday night at second-ranked Gonzaga, it would bring back one of the more miraculous recoveries in Carolina history. In 1987, K.J.’s father, All-American point guard Kenny Smith, sat out two games during UNC’s winning streak of 16 straight with minor surgery on his knee.

Dean Smith, as cagey as they came when talking about injuries to his players, said that his point guard nicknamed “The Jet” would be back but wasn’t sure when. After Carolina defeated Wake Forest in Greensboro and Georgia Tech in Chapel Hill, Smith’s team had won 15 straight games and arrived at 14th-ranked Clemson No. 1 in the polls. The Jet not only played after missing a week of practice and those two games, he lit up the Tigers with a career-high 41 points, 18 more than his previous best.

Smith rallied the Tar Heels from a 50-38 halftime deficit, scoring 27 points in the second half, including eight in the decisive 22-5 run that silenced the wild Littlejohn Coliseum crowd. Smith hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the first season of the long shot in college basketball to give Carolina its first lead of the game. The Tar Heels won 108-99 in the wildest shootout of the season; they lost at Notre Dame in their next game but went on to win 11 in a row from there.

After the Clemson game, Kenny Smith credited his UNC doctors for the quick heal job and said it was not a serious injury but needed to be repaired. Anthony’s knee seems to be a bit worse, but it goes to show you how unpredictable these things can be with young, healthy athletes.

Maybe, he too will make his return much earlier than expected.