Rotnei Clarke injury: Butler guard has no spinal damage

Luckily for Clarke, by the time he got to the hospital, he had the feeling and movement back in his arms and legs and was told that he suffered a neck sprain and nothing more. The Bulldogs were no surely relieved of the news, and are happy now that they’ll get their leading scorer back for the last third of the season and heading into March Madness.

Rotnei leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game and scoring 260 points so far this season. Butler is coming off of a loss to La Salle, but before that they had won 13 games in a row. With Rotnei back in the lineup, they’ll be looking to bounce back from their third loss of the season.

Clarke, who suffered a neck sprain on Jan. 12, visited with a spine specialist on Thursday, according to a team trainer who told USA Today’s Nicole Auerbach that “everything looks stable.” An MRI that Clarke underwent following the injury revealed no spinal damage.

A senior from Verdigris, Okla., Clarke is averaging 16.3 points per game for the No. 9 Bulldogs after scoring more than 15 points per contest for two straight seasons at Arkansas.

Clarke, who leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 16.3 points per game, took a hard foul on a fast break that caused him to crash into the basket support head-first. He remained on the floor for several minutes and was eventually wheeled off the court in a stretcher. A subsequent MRI revealed he had suffered a severe neck sprain.

He is expected to make a full recovery, but the school still hasn’t medically cleared Clarke to participate in full practice. The Bulldogs host Richmond on Wednesday and then play against No. 8 Gonzaga in a nationally televised contest on Saturday.

Clarke’s father, Conley, also told Woods that he thinks there is a chance Clarke could play on Saturday against Gonzaga, a scenario that has not been confirmed by team officials.

In his senior season, Clarke is Butler’s leading scorer, averaging 17.0 points per game for the No. 14 Bulldogs (14-1). Clarke is in his first year with the program after transferring from Arkansas following his junior campaign.