Duke forward Harry Giles has surgery on his left knee

ByC.L. Brown ESPN logo
Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Dukeannounced freshman forward Harry Giles, the No. 1-rated player in the 2016 ESPN 100, could be out up to six weeks after having a successful left knee arthroscopy on Monday.

Giles tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus in the same knee in 2013 during a game in Uruguay while playing for the U.S. against Argentina.

He was being brought along slowly at Duke while rehabbing the torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered in November. When the Blue Devils opened their first practice of the season to the public on Saturday, the 6-foot-10, Winston-Salem, N.C., product was dressed but did not participate.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a released statement that the process was, "the right step for Harry at the moment as it will help him be 100 percent going forward. Harry has done a tremendous job in rehabilitation over the last year and I'm sure he'll continue to do the same after this procedure."

Krzyzewski added Tuesday: "This has nothing to do with the ACL. Really, structurally his knees are really good. There's just a cleanup. If there was structure then we wouldn't be saying it's six weeks -- and six weeks is conservative. He'll want to come back before that because he already feels better even though he just had it done yesterday. Structurally he was examined on Saturday--I was there. I mean, he's good. It was the smart thing to do right now."

The Blue Devils will still have a deep frontcourt while Giles is out, led by Amile Jefferson and freshmen Marques Bolden.

ESPN's Dana O'Neil contributed to this report