Basketball: Transfer Yor Anei to miss time with infection in wrist
An infection in the wrist will cost SMU big man Yor Anei a few weeks -- and possibly game time in the 2020 calendar year.
Back in July, the SMU basketball team received great news when 6-10 big man Yor Anei announced that he would be transferring from Oklahoma State to SMU. Anei's a defensive specialist with a developed perimeter game, exactly what the Mustangs were looking for inside.
Monday afternoon, SMU's good news took a turn for the worse. Per a source familiar to the situation, Anei will miss part of the first half of the 2020-21 season with an infection in his left wrist.
Anei is expected to be out the first three or four weeks. There's a chance he could be out for the calendar year.
At 6-10 and 235 pounds, Anei came to SMU after averaging 8.1 points and 4.7 rebounds for Oklahoma State last season. He also had 60 blocked shots during the season and has a career average of 2.27 blocks per game.
A healthy Anei would help SMU in that the Mustangs ranked 10th out of 12 teams in scoring defense and ninth in defensive rebounds last season. He played in 14 games for the Cowboys where he had at least two blocked shots. Arguably his most complete statistical game came in the 2019-20 season opener against Oral Roberts, where he had 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks.
In addition to the news about the infection, Anei is still waiting to hear whether or not the NCAA will approve his waiver.
Anei is one of six frontcourt players on the SMU roster. Ethan Chargois and Isiah Jasey both return for their senior years, while Feron Hunt and Everett Ray prepare for their junior seasons. Sophomore Jahmar Young redshirted last season and is expected to be a contributor, as well.
The Mustangs have been picked to finish third in the AAC, according to the 2020-21 preseason poll voted on by AAC head coaches. SMU is expected to battle with Houston and Memphis for the conference's top spot.