Duke’s Harry Giles has knee surgery, status for Champions Classic vs. KU unknown

By Matt Tait     Oct 3, 2016

According to press release from Duke Basketball, five-star freshman forward Harry Giles had successful knee surgery on Monday and is expected to miss six weeks.

With Duke slated to face Kansas in this year’s Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 15, Giles’ availability for that Top 5 showdown is in question, given the fact that Nov. 15 is exactly six weeks from Tuesday.

Even if he is available for the Champions Classic, he almost certainly will miss the Blue Devils’ season opener, Nov. 11 against Marist, and, therefore would be playing his first ever college game on the biggest stage imaginable against another blue blood program.

Regardless of what it means for the start of Duke’s season, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said everyone was in agreement that surgery was the right move.

“We’re very pleased with the outcome of today’s procedure,” Krzyzewski said in the release. “This is the right step for Harry at the moment as it will help him be 100 percent going forward. Harry has done a tremendous job in rehabilitation over the last year and I’m sure he’ll continue to do the same after this procedure.”

The operation was the third knee surgery in the past three years for Giles, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward from Winston Salem, North Carolina.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.