March 26, 2008

VILLANOVA, Pa. -Sophomore center Casiem Drummond (East Orange, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) underwent successful surgery on his fractured right ankle Tuesday at Bryn Mawr Hospital. During the surgery, Villanova team orthopedist Dr. Rob Good inserted a screw into the ankle to aid in the healing.

Drummond was injured in Sunday's 84-72 second round NCAA Tournament victory over Siena in Tampa, Fla. The injury is a new one and unrelated to the stress fracture in the same ankle that kept Drummond out of action earlier this season. In December, the 6-10 center was diagnosed with a stress fracture in the right ankle that forced him to miss nine of 10 games from Dec. 14 - Jan. 26. He returned to the lineup at Pittsburgh on Jan. 30 before incurring further trouble that sidelined him from Feb. 23-Mar. 5.

Drummond began the season in the starting lineup and notched a career-high 17 rebounds in a loss to North Carolina State in the finals of the Old Spice Classic on Nov. 25. He made nine starts in 21 appearances in 2007-08, averaging 4.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

The recuperation from surgery will prevent Drummond from traveling to Detroit with his teammates for this Friday night's game against Kansas in the NCAA Midwest regional semi-final.