Terrence Williams is hurt and Robert Vaden is a moron

Some important news about a couple of important players. First off, Terrence Williams tore his medial meniscus in a pick-up game on campus, just two days before the official start of practice and mere hours after being praised by Rick Pitino at the Louisville tip-off luncheon for his work and dedication in the off-season. Williams will undergo surgery in the coming days and will be sidelined for the next 4-6 weeks. The news about the torn meniscus was actually good news for Pitino and the Cardinals:

I'm ecstatic that it's not an ACL tear as was first feared. He'll be out only a short period of time, and we know he'll come back as good as new. We're totally relieved.

If all goes according to plan and Williams is back in 4 weeks, then he should be ready to play by the time games begin and back to 100% when Big East play starts in January. T-Will is so important to this Louisville team, as he is really the only guy they have that can create for someone other than himself. I really hope that this doesn't have a negative effect on his performance for his senior year, as he is one of the most entertaining and exciting players to watch in the Big East.

Robert Vaden is a different story. Vaden, who originally attended Indiana before transferring to UAB to follow head coach Mike Davis, was back in Bloomington this past weekend. While he was there, Vaden was arrested on a preliminary charge of public intoxication. Not all that big of a deal, right? Vaden is 23 years old, and was back visiting old friends and had a few too many, meaning he spent the night in the drunk tank. By itself, really not much to talk about. Except Vaden is still on probation from a disorderly conduct charge after he and four other Blazer players were arrested after a fight outside a club in August of 2007. Now I don't know if this will violate his probation (I assume it does) or what kind of punishment he will face as a result (I assume it depends on the mood of the judge or probation officer who handles it), but I would not be surprised if he missed some games as a result. Gotta use better judgement, Bobby.

Ironically, the story about his arrest broke on the same day he was announced as the preseason player of the year in Conference USA. Vaden, a sharpshooter who averaged 21 points, 4 boards, and 3 dimes per game last year (and also put on one of the greatest shooting displays I've ever seen against Kentucky last year - seriously, watch that video, it was incredible), declared for June's NBA Draft, but withdrew his name days before the deadline.