Charles Minlend Out Six Weeks With Knee Injury

Mark BlankenbakerNovember 9, 2020

University of Louisville graduate transfer guard Charles Minlend will be sidelined for six weeks after suffering a knee injury in practice.

Minlend suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee during practice last Thursday. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test at Norton’s Audubon Hospital, the Cardinals’ health care partner, confirmed the diagnosis. He is expected to be out six weeks to recover from the injury.

“Charles suffered a tear in his left MCL from practice last Thursday,” said UofL Men’s Basketball Head Coach Chris Mack. “He was having a good preseason to that point. He has been a positive presence every day from the moment he arrived in June. We will miss him on the floor until mid-December. Knowing Charles, he will do everything needed to get back on the floor ready to go.”

A 6-4, 220-pound guard from Concord, N.C., Minlend averaged 14.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals as a redshirt junior in 2019-20 as the top scorer for the University of San Francisco, which accomplished a 22-12 record in matching its best win total in 35 years. The Dons had won five straight before falling to No. 2 Gonzaga by just four points in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament as Minlend totaled 19 points and seven rebounds. He averaged 18.7 points in three WCC Tournament games.

Minlend (pronounced MIN-lend) earned All-WCC second team honors for each of the last two seasons and is ranked among the nation’s top 20 graduate transfers by ESPN. His 1,271 career points is tied for 18th on the all-time San Francisco scoring list and his 141 career three-pointers rank 10th on the Dons’ career list. He has scored in double figures in 70 games for his career, including 11 occasions with 20 or more points. He scored a career-high 25 points against Santa Clara on Jan. 9 and his top rebounding effort was 12 boards against Pepperdine on Feb. 22.

Louisville opens its 2020-21 season on Nov. 25 against Southern Illinois in the KFC Yum! Center in its first game of the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic.