Edgar Sosa, the former Rice High School and Louisville standout, suffered a gruesome leg injury Monday while playing for the Dominican Republic against Panama in the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship.
According to John Calipari’s official website, Sosa drove to the basket with 37.9 seconds remaining in the DR’s 92-68 victory and sustained a compound fracture of his right fibula and tibia.
“From what they’re seeing right now, they’ve just got to place it,” Calipari said on his website. “It’s crazy, nobody fell on him or anything. It’s sad because this kid just had a heck of a game. He had 13 points, eight rebounds and was playing a lot better.”
Sosa was immediately taken to a nearby hospital in Mar del Plata, Argentina, site of the competition. He appears smiling and holding his thumb up in the above picture by the Dominican team.
“It’s one of the most devastating things I’ve ever been through,” Calipari said. “I’ve been through one other thing like this and that’s when Marcus Camby passed out in the hallway during warm-ups. We didn’t know if he had died of a heart attack. That just ripped me apart. This is the same thing.”
Both teams gathered at midcourt and hugged after the game, Calipari’s website reported.
“A wounded soldier, my prayers are with Edgar Sosa, hoping for a speedy recovery, God please heal over him,” teammate Charlie Villanueva tweeted after the game.
Sosa was averaging 8.8 points in the event and had scored 13 points before the injury.
“My hope was that Edgar would have NBA opportunities from this,” Calipari said. “I wanted this to help his career. It was just a freak thing with 35 seconds to go in the game. It’s sad. I hope everyone in Big Blue Nation prays for him that this is a short recovery period and that he resumes his career. He’s a terrific basketball player and a wonderful young man.”
