UAlbany RB Ibitokun-Hanks ‘doubtful’ for 1st game
By Sam Blum ALBANY, N.Y. » Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks is doubtful to play in Albany’s season opener at Old Dominion next Saturday. The Great Danes’ star running back went down with an MCL injury early last week, and has yet to return to practice.
“I know you guys want to hear certain things about injuries, but they take time and there’s no way to give you answers on things right now,” head coach Greg Gattuso said. “We’re hopeful that (Ibitokun-Hanks) is going to be back.”
Gattuso offered little in the way of guarantees on Friday afternoon. No guarantee that he would be out for the first game, but also no guarantee that Ibitokun-Hanks would be back this season. He even made a point to say that he had three games before he had to make a decision on a redshirt.
Ibitokun-Hanks had 16 of the 27 offensive touchdowns last season. He was basically the only running back who got snaps in what was a run-heavy offense. He tore his ACL in the last game of the season on a non-contact injury, but had made a quick recovery. Before the setback in practice last week, he looked stronger physically than he had at his peak last season. University at Albany running back Ibitokun-Hanks at training camp on the UAlbany campus.
“Right now we’re hoping to get him back next week,” Gattuso said. “But I would list him as doubtful for the first game. It’s too hard to make a decision. It’s really how he’s feeling.”
Next up on the depth chart is redshirt junior Kendall Rodgers Jr. and true freshman Karl Mofor. They’ll both get snaps. Gattuso said Mofor has been the positive surprise of camp thus far. But neither quite fill the shoes of one of the CAA’s best offensive players.
Rodgers Jr. had just 53 carries for 154 yards last season. Now he’ll likely be the go-to guy as Albany opens up against an FBS team that made a bowl game last season.
“I’m just going into it like any other game,” said Rodgers Jr., who didn’t know until asked that Ibitokun-Hanks was likely out. “Just trying to make sure I’m focused and know my assignments for the day ... It’s always an opportunity to step on this field.”
Ibitokun-Hanks is still in pads and walking around in practice. He gained 15 pounds of muscle during his initial rehab and didn’t even go home during the breaks and holidays so as to stick to a recovery regimen.
Now, even with some optimism, he’s likely going to miss at least one game, and it’s unknown what will happen after that.
“We’re hoping for the best, we’ll see,” Gattuso said. “He’s got another three days of rehab here and some running next week. We’ll see how he does.”