Despite losing four seniors (Alex Stepheson, Marcus Simmons, James Dunleavy and Donte Smith) to graduation and junior forward Nikola Vucevic (Sixers) to last June's NBA Draft, coach Kevin O'Neill has said throughout the first 12 games of the 2011-2012 season, that the biggest loss for the 5-7 Trojans' squad, both in terms of leadership and on-court impact, occurred when senior guard Jio Fontan suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Brazil back on August 18.
Fontan (pictured below by the LA Times), a transfer from Fordham, played in 23 games for the Trojans last season (10.5 points and 3.9 assists per game), and was a catalyst for the team's second half run to the NCAA Tournament.
While the loss has certainly been a local story over the past few months, ESPN's college basketball analyst Jay Bilas shed some light on Fontan's absence, listing it as one of the seven most impactful injuries around the country this season.
Although sophomore guard Maurice Jones has done a more than admirable job (including a season-high 25 points against TCU on Monday night) picking up the slack for Fontan, Bilas believes that the two could have formed one of the most formidable backcourts on the West Coast and potentially one of the elite in the entire country.
