Michigan State freshman forward Kenny Kaminski will be out for four to six months after having surgery on his right shoulder. Kaminski was injured while playing against teammates during the summer. He had surgery on the same shoulder last fall while attending Medina High School in Ohio. The 6-foot-8, 245-pound Kaminski will likely redshirt this season, giving him four more years of eligibility with the Spartans.
On one hand, I'm disappointed by this news, because while I never expected big things from Kaminski, the Spartans lack depth in the post. They have a very solid starting 4/5 with Nix and Payne, but they really don't have a bench. Gauna was just a freshman last season, but he always looked lost when Izzo had to throw him in the games (usually due to foul trouble). Yeah, he was a freshman, but he also looked like a freshman who belonged on Eastern Michigan's bench, not Michigan State's. I hope he's put in the work this off-season, because the first time Nix gets winded or Payne gets into foul trouble, he'll have to play serious minutes. I can also see Dawson maybe logging some time at the four, but I don't want him to do that consistently. You might not think that having a sub-100 freshman on your bench would make that big of a difference, but having two of them, with fellow middle-of-the-road recruit Matt Costello, would have at least given us some more bodies to throw out there to pick up some fouls, which can go a long way in the Big 10. On the other hand, having a red-shirt year for Kaminski could be great for the Spartans. He won't be able to put too much weight on with his shoulder injury initially, but during the second half of the season, once he's recuperated, that could be a huge plus. At only 215 lbs., he's 55 lbs. smaller than our current starting four. Some time to add some weight to his frame wouldn't be a bad thing.
