Taylor to have ankle surgery, skip Team USA

The Wisconsin athletic department revealed today that senior guard Jordan Taylor will have minor ankle surgery next week. Taylor was spotted on campus last week wearing a walking boot on his right ankle.

UPDATED: A source confirmed the surgery has been scheduled to correct "wear and tear" on the ankle, not as a result of a specific incident.

The surgery will force Taylor to pass up an opportunity to play in the World University Games with USA Basketball in August. Tryouts for the team begin July 29 in Colorado Springs.

As Taylor told Mike Lucas, it was a tough decision to withdraw from the tryouts, but he did not want to compromise his upcoming senior season with his Badger teammates:

"It’s definitely a bummer. But I have to get ready for our season and by having the surgery now it will give me a chance to get completely healthy. We have a lot of goals for our team this year.’’

Until further details are known, it is difficult to assume anything about the severity of the injury.

The World University Games will be held in China, concluding August 23. If Taylor and the coaching staff thought delaying surgery until after that point might be detrimental to his season preparation, it is possible that Taylor is looking at 6-8 weeks of recovery. That is pure speculation though, based on Wisconsin's first official practice being set for October 16.

Just recently, Team USA struggled at the U19 World Championships due in part to lack of a true point guard. That team, coached by George Mason's Paul Hewitt, settled for fifth place in Riga, Latvia.

Now the World University Games squad has lost two of the point guards expected to try out, as Xavier's Tu Holloway also withdrew. Scoop Jardine (Syracuse) and Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh) remain as the likely point guards to lead Team USA.