Friday, July 26, 2002

Golden Panther basketball senior out for six months
FIU's Rodrigo Viegas undergoes successful ACL surgery

photo by Geoff Anderson Senior Rodrigo Viegas will be lost to the team for some six months after suffering a left knee injury.

IU men's basketball guard/forward Rodrigo Viegas will be lost to the team for the next six months after undergoing successful ACL reconstruction and medial meniscus repair surgery earlier this week.

Viegas injured himself while working out in his hometown of Belo Horizonte, Brazil earlier this summer. Doctors there performed an MRI and diagnosed a partial ACL tear of the left knee. Viegas wore a brace for several weeks without improvement.

The 6-feet-5 senior returned to Miami where team physician Dr. John Zvijac performed surgery at HealthSouth Doctor's Hospital.

"I feel bad for Rod because he was coming off an outstanding season last year and emerged as our floor leader," said FIU head coach Donnie Marsh. "I know it's disappointing to him, but he's a focused individual. He on track to graduate this December and we're expecting him to be at 100-percent by the time the Sun Belt Conference schedule begins in January.

The Golden Panthers open their 2003 Sun Belt schedule on Sunday, Jan. 5, at home against North Texas-the program that ended FIU season last year at the league championships.

"For a program like ours, it's important that we're playing our best come conference time," said Marsh. "If Rodrigo's activation gives us a shot of energy, we'll take that and run with it."

Viegas transferred to FIU from Virginia Tech in the fall of 2000. As a junior, last year he averaged 13.4 points and six rebounds while starting 29 of the Golden Panther's 30 games.

He became only the 18th FIU men's basketball player to score more than 400 points in a single season (he finished with 402 points) and joined Taurance Johnson as the first Golden Panther teammates to both tally 400-or-more points in the same year.