When Alabama takes the field for its annual spring game this Saturday, the two-time defending national champs will do so without an early enrollee and one of the top members of its top-rated 2013 recruiting class.
The high school coach of running back Derrick Henry confirmed to TideSports.com that his former player sustained a fractured tibia during this past Saturday’s scrimmage. While the school has yet to confirm the injury, the coach added that surgery was performed and a plate inserted into the injured limb.
As a result, Henry will be unavailable for this weekend’s A-Day game.
The good news, though, is that Henry should be fully recovered at some point in July. Such a timeline would mean Henry would be available for and be a full participant in the start of summer camp.
“A kid like him, with the work ethic he has, I would expect him to have a quick recovery,” Yulee (Fla.) High School coach Bobby Ramsay told the website. “Naturally, he’s disappointed. But I talked to him and I think his spirits are going to be fine. He knows this isn’t as bad as an Achilles (tendon) or a knee injury. And I told him it’s better to have something like this happen now than in September.”
Henry was a four-star member of UA’s most recent recruiting class, rated by Rivals.com as the No. 5 running back in the country and the No. 6 player at any position in the state of Florida. In late November, Henry broke the national high school record for career rushing yards that had been set nearly 60 years ago. He also set the state’s single-game rushing record with 502 yards during a late September game last year.
Despite the injury, the 6-3, 238-pound Henry will still be viewed as one of the incoming freshmen who could make an immediate impact as the Tide looks for an unprecedented BCS three-peat.
UPDATED 1:21 p.m. ET: Head coach Nick Saban addressed Henry’s injury issue in a statement released by the school Tuesday afternoon.
“Derrick Henry suffered a fractured fibula in Saturday’s scrimmage and had successful surgery this morning with Dr. Lyle Cain,” Saban’s comments began. “With the support of our medical staff and the hard work and dedication Derrick has shown since he arrived, we are confident that he will make a full recovery for the start of camp this fall.”