WKU Basketball: Coach Rick Stansbury to Return to Team From Injury

In a statement from the university, it was announced that Hilltopper head coach Rick Stansbury will return to the team to coach starting…

In a statement from the university, it was announced that Hilltopper head coach Rick Stansbury will return to the team to coach starting Saturday at Old Dominion and even returned on Wednesday to one of the team’s practices.

Coach Stansbury has been sidelined since before the games at Rice and North Texas a few weeks ago after it was reported he fell on some ice and injured his back. He had surgery last Friday and has missed four games since he went down.

Assistant coach Marc Hsu took over as interim head coach in Stansbury’s absence and won three out of the four games he coached with his only loss being a flat performance against UAB.

Stansbury’s return couldn’t have come at a better time for WKU as the team now enters pod play. The Tops will now take on four of the top teams in the conference over the next two weeks before the conference tournament begins in Frisco in March.

While coach Hsu was able to step up and finish with a winning record in the games he coached, the team is definitely better off having their head coach back for the next four games that will be crucial to WKU’s post season. WKU need to win some critical games within the pod system if they want to be able to finish with a top four seed and receive a first round bye in the conference tournament. If they finish last in their pod, they would have to win four games in four days if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Stansbury and the team will now prepare to take on the #1 team in the conference Old Dominion in Norfolk on Saturday in a rematch from earlier this year. WKU started the game on a huge 21–0 lead and lost earlier this season so I’d look for the Tops to get revenge with higher stakes this time around.