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Last November, Vanderbilt signed its highest-rated recruit ever, or at least since recruiting rankings became a thing, in Canadian forward Simi Shittu — who just barely beat out the previous highest-rated recruit, Darius Garland, who had signed the week before.
Then, in January, because we can’t have nice things, Shittu tore his ACL. ACL tears take anywhere from 9-12 months to fully heal, and a lot of people started assuming the worst: that Shittu wouldn’t be cleared to play until midway through the season and would never get up to full speed, dooming Vanderbilt to a disappointing 2018-19 season.
It now appears those fears were unfounded. Jon Rothstein tweeted this morning that Shittu is expected to be cleared to play for the start of the regular season.
Vanderbilt freshman Simisola Shittu (knee) is expected to be fully cleared for the start of the 2018-19 college basketball season, per Bryce Drew.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) August 1, 2018
For once, we are allowed to have nice things.