Nate Bendall's foot isn't getting any better

Nate Bendall's season is in serious jeopardy.

On Saturday, he missed Utah State's scrimmage and was seen wearing a walking boot after suffering a setback to the injury in his right foot. Bendall has long had problems with his right foot, and they don't seem to be getting any better. The injury is being called a pre-stress fracture, the same injury that hampered Tyler Hansbrough early in his senior campaign.

And rest assured, Bendall is a key piece for this Aggie team. He was supposed to be their starter at center this season and averaged 10.3 ppg and 5.5 rpg in 2009-2010. He and power forward Tai Wesley were expected to make up one of the best front courts in the WAC.

According to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, it appears that the issue isn't going to be whether or not Bendall actually plays this season, it is going to be how much pain he can play through. That's never a good sign.

Even without Bendall, Utah State would likely be the favorite to win the WAC, especially with New Mexico State's Wendell McKines battling injuries of his own.

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Two WAC stars go down with foot injuries

The two favorites in the WAC both are dealing with serious injuries to potential all-conference performers.

Utah State's Nate Bendall, a 6'10" post player that is the Aggie's second leading returning scorer and rebounder, has been dealing with a pre-stress fracture in his foot that has kept him out of workouts the past week. Bendall broke the same foot last summer, which means the training staff at Utah State will likely be very careful in dealing with this injury. The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that he may be out until after the Aggie's season opener against Weber State.

With Bendell out, it appears as if Stew Morrill will slide Tai Wesley, USU's burly power forward, over to the center spot, pushing Brady Jardine up to the first team with Matt Formisano and Morgan Grim playing more predominant roles off the bench.

New Mexico State may be dealing with a more serious foot injury.

Wendell McKines, a 6'6" senior forward that nearly averaged a double-double last season with also handing out 3.1 apg and knocking down 37.2% of his three, broke his foot in practice on Saturday. He will be out indefinitely. The good news for Marvin Menzies' Aggies is that their strength is in the front court. Starters Troy Gillenwater and Hamidu Rahman while a plethora of younger guys will fight for the minutes McKines' injury makes available.

For what its worth, we pegged McKines as a preseason first team all-WAC performer while Bendall made our second team.

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