New Mexico Basketball: Jordan Goodman Not expected to play until December

Last year, Cameron Bairstow set the Mountain west on fire coming out of nowhere to lead the Lobos and be the conference runner up for the player of the year award.

Goodman was a first team Junior college All-American at Harcum College and was the second rated Junior College player of the 2015 recruiting class. The Lobos beat out the likes of Oklahoma State, Temple, Georgetown and La Salle. Jordan Goodman was supposed to be the immediate replacement for Bairstow but an off season knee surgery and several nagging injuries have kept Goodman off of the court. He has not been able to practice for five consecutive days this off season and Coach Neal wants him to do so before he will declare him ready to play.

The 6'10 Goodman was slated to be the Lobos starting power forward but right now the Lobos are starting Devon Williams. Williams a 6-8 redshirt sophomore has seen little time on the court since arriving in New Mexico but has been impressive in practice and during the Lobos two exhibition games.

Goodman is an athletic talent and would present a lot of match up issue for opposing teams because of his all round game. With the Lobos losing so much of their scoring from a year ago many people saw Goodman as the X-factor for the Lobos this year and their success would be tied to his. Other people saw Goodman as a one year player for the Lobos with him turning pro after his junior season.

For now all of the predictions and hope for awards will have to put on hold until Goodman can recover from his injuries and stay healthy enough to make his Lobo Debut.  If Neal's time frame is correct Goodman would miss the Lobos pivotal games in the Puerto Rico Shootout and a home game against USC. For the Lobos with all of the new faces chemistry is important and with one of their key new comers missing this much time it will be interesting to see how the team gels together once he's back.