Ginyard's season off on a bad foot

The basketball season for North Carolina senior guard Marcus Ginyard got off on a bad foot, literally.

The Tar Heels defensive player of the year for the past two seasons had surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot Wednesday morning. He is expected to be out of action for eight weeks which would make him miss UNC's first eight or nine games.

But better now than later, says Heels head coach Roy Williams.

"You hate this for Marcus because he has worked so hard to get ready for his senior season, but he decided it was better to have the surgery now and be ready sometime in December, than risk a more substantial injury that would knock him out of action later in the season," Williams said in a release. "We will miss his play on both ends of the floor as well as his leadership with the young players. I am hopeful others will step forward to fill those roles. Marcus has been a joy to coach and I look forward to his return."

Ginyard started all 39 games last season, averaging 6.9 points and 4.5 rebounds.