Utah Utes basketball: Watkins out for 4-to-6 weeks

Utah forward Jay Watkins, a 6-foot-7 transfer from College of Southern Idaho, will be out for four-to-six weeks because of an injury.

Watkins, who is expected to get major minutes for the Utes this year, has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of his pelvis. Apparently he's had soreness this fall, but he played in Wednesday night's scrimmage and did well, finishing off with a slam dunk at the final buzzer. He had a lot of pain Thursday morning and an MRI revealed the injury.

"We're very disappointed for him and for his development," said Utah coach Jim Boylen. "He has done everything we've asked of him on and off the court. We hope he makes a speedy recovery and we will do everything we can to support him through the process."

Boylen also said Thursday that freshman guard Marshall Henderson is the starting guard for now along with senior Luka Drca. He said Henderson, a 6-2 combo guard out of Hurst, Texas, has good chemistry with Drca and has performed well in practice. Henderson is known as an excellent outside shooter, something he showed Wednesday night with several 3-pointers.

Henderson will start in Saturday morning's scrimmage against the University of Colorado, which is closed to the public and media. The other four starters are Drca, Carlon Brown, Kim Tillie and sophomore center David Foster. Watkins would have been one of the first players off the bench.

Redshirt freshman center Jason Washburn, who has sat out for six weeks with a knee injury, will start practicing full-speed next week.

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