Marshall’s status still uncertain

Kendall Marshall is screwed.

Or at least that’s the way he worded it Monday.

The North Carolina point guard had a screw surgically inserted into his right wrist Monday after fracturing his scaphoid in Sunday’s NCAA tournament win against Creighton.

While Marshall’s availability for Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup with Ohio is still unknown, his surgery was deemed a success — chiefly, by the sophomore himself.

“Successful morning, I’m screwed,” Marshall said on his Twitter account late Monday afternoon to a steadily increasing number of followers.

Coach Roy Williams said on his radio show Monday night that he is still unsure whether playing Friday is a possibility for Marshall.

“My guess is — purely guess — that he will not play,” he said. “But as I said, we’re uncertain.”

Marshall suffered the fracture about mid-way through the second half of Sunday’s game against Creighton. As he drove to the basket for a layup, a foul from Creighton’s Ethan Wragge sent Marshall falling to the floor.

The wrist, which is on the sophomore’s non-shooting hand, was operated on by Dr. Don Bynum at UNC Hospitals.

“The surgery went great,” Williams said. “They felt like everything was as good as it could be on the scaphoid bone.”

As made clear by his tweets, Marshall tried to put a positive spin on the injury.

And he wasn’t alone. Marshall’s father, Dennis, kept the masses updated on his Twitter account throughout the day, tweeting “Get ready to hang another banner in the dome…” and “Coming off anesthesia …all Kendall keeps asking for is his teammates.”

During his radio show, Williams compared losing Marshall to the Indianapolis Colts losing quarterback Peyton Manning.

But the impact of that loss — or whether Marshall is truly lost at all — is still unclear.

Williams said the key is for the Tar Heels to not feel sorry for themselves.

“We don’t have any idea, but we can’t just roll up and play dead,” Williams said. “I mean, North Carolina’s gonna play.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.