It's not serious...he'll be back in practice next week and ready to play in their opener.
UAlbany's All-American back is out "indefinitely"
Ibitokun-Hanks will miss Elon with knee injury, might not return this season
By Mark Singelais
Updated 7:02 pm, Wednesday, September 27, 2017
University at Albany football coach Greg Gattuso is getting tired of answering questions about All-American running back Elijah Ibiotkun-Hanks' availability every day.
At the same time, Gattuso said he feels Ibitokun-Hanks is feeling pressure to come back from his left knee injury.
Gattuso today declared Ibitokun-Hanks to be out "indefinitely," with the only definite thing being he'll miss his second straight game and fourth out of five when UAlbany takes on Elon in North Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m.
"I just don't want to talk about it any more,'' Gattuso said. "If he's not ready, he's out. He's out indefinitely and we'll deal with it as we progress throughout the year and what we're going to do. I just don't want it as a distraction. For him, as well, for his good. He wanted to go practice today and I was like, 'Let's take the week and come out tomorrow and next week fresh and let's see how we go.' And that's all. I just want to see the kid get healthy."
Ibitokun-Hanks is now nine months removed from surgery after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the season finale against Stony Brook last year. He re-injured the knee in training camp, though not as severely.
He did make his season debut against Monmouth two weeks ago, but then couldn't play in the overtime victory over Villanova.
He dressed for today's practice, but didn't participate other than going through stretching. He limped while wearing a knee brace.
"I don't want any pressure on him,'' Gattuso said. "I just want him to come out and try to help the team. We need him, whether he's running scout team or being a leader. I just want him to be comfortable because he's not right now. He's just not able to go. I'm not even thinking about it at this point. I just want to continue to try to progress this football team."
Gattuso didn't rule out Ibitokun-Hanks sitting out the remainder of the season and taking a medical redshirt.
"I think there's certainly a point where you've got to make a decision on whether you want to get the year back at the end of the year,'' Gattuso said. "There's a lot of factors involved right now. Every day to talk about it, there's just no more information."
UAlbany tight end and fullback Anthony Manzo-Lewis is Ibitokun-Hanks' friend and housemate. Manzo-Lewis said his own brother went through an ACL reconstruction in high school and faced the long, tricky rehabilitation.
"It sucks,'' Manzo-Lewis said. "(Ibitokun-Hanks) said, 'I felt fine to run at six months.' Same with my brother. He said the exact same thing. The problem with an ACL is, you never really know how healthy you are So he came out and tweaked it a little bit (this summer). He's upset about it, but talking to EB, he does everything he can to be here. He's not playing right now, but he's doing everything he can to be a vocal leader. He's not one to really get down on himself, but he's a big believer in whatever happens is meant to be."
Gattuso said earlier this season UAlbany needed back Ibitokun-Hanks to reach its long-term goals this season. But that was before the Great Danes upset then-No. 7 Villanova without him.
"I give credit to the team,'' Gattuso said. "We beat a top 10 team without an All-American running back. It's no fun. I don't like missing him. But that said, what I really don't like is any expectations. These guys need to move on and play and that's where we're at right now."
