September 2, 2001

BLACKSBURG - After reevaluating him Sunday afternoon, Virginia Tech director of athletic training Mike Goforth has determined that Hokie running back Lee Suggs sustained a new ACL injury in Saturday's game, and is lost for the year.

Suggs and his parents met with Goforth, Billy Hite, Dr. Marc Seigel and Dr. Duane Lagan this afternoon at 2 p.m. At that time, Lee and his family were informed of the extent of Suggs' knee injury and the options available.

Suggs reported to the training room a little after noon on Sunday and was in a great amount of pain and had a significant amount of swelling in the left knee. He wasn't able to put pressure on his knee.

"That's what told us it was a new injury," Goforth said.

The original plan was to scope the knee on Monday morning, but Goforth said the swelling was too extreme.

"With as much swelling as he has, there's no use in scoping it right now," Goforth said. "We'll wait until the swelling goes down before we enter the knee. Lee's reaction was one of realism. He asked what we had to do next and what he had to do to get it better."

While doctors wait for the swelling to go down, Suggs will undergo "pre-habilitation."

"We're going to try and get the knee strong before we go in and repair both the ACL and meniscus," Goforth said. "It's better if you go into a surgery with a healthy knee as opposed to one that's been recently traumatized. We try to do this with all our ACL injuries, similar to Jake Houseright's last year."

Goforth said they will operate at the appropriate time, which he estimates to be within two weeks. If all goes well, Goforth expects him to be completely healed for next season.

"Of course I'm disappointed," Suggs said, "but I have to try and make the best of it. I knew this morning something was wrong with all the pain and swelling I had. We'll just have to go in and fixit and try to get it ready for next year. In the mean time, all I can do is cheer on my teammates and support them as much as possible."

Suggs, a redshirt junior, led the nation last year with 28 touchdowns. He rushed for 99 yards and two scores against UConn to break the school record for both career and career rushing touchdowns.

12/1 - Miami
Blacksburg, Va.
Injured