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The Tennessee Volunteers have lost senior guard Lamonte Turner for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.
Following Saturday’s win over Jacksonville State, Turner and the school announced that his season was ending due to him needing shoulder surgery.
News: Lamonte Turner is done for the season after today’s game. Told reporters just now that he and his family decided to have season-ending surgery on shoulder.
— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) December 21, 2019
Turner actually decided to have the surgery on Friday, but he wanted to play in one last game as a Vol before his college career ended. He finished today’s 75-53 win over Jacksonville State with eight points on 4/6 shooting and 11 assists.
The talented guard was set to be one of the SEC’s top returnees this season, but he’s had a rough start to the season with poor shooting percentages. Prior to today, he was shooting just 29% from the field and 23% from three-point range, down from 32% last season. It’s safe to think the shoulder issue was greatly affecting his play, though he did hit a game-winning triple vs. VCU a few weeks ago.
Still, this is a big loss for Tennessee and the SEC, which has had a really bad week and looks significantly worse than last season.