Illinois Basketball: Leron Black out 4-6 weeks with meniscus tear

Illinois forward Leron Black will be out four to six weeks with a torn right meniscus, head coach John Groce announced at Illinois basketball media day on Thursday.

Groce said Black will have surgery Friday. The sophomore forward scored 164 points with 141 rebounds, 11 steals, six blocks and four assists last season.

Black scored a season-high 18 points in just his second appearance of the year against Coppin State, but also received three or more personal fouls in each of his first five games. This trend unfortunately continued throughout the year; he picked up four or more fouls in 10 different contests, or nearly 31 percent of the season.

But to Black's credit, he cleaned up his game considerably by season's end and managed to log more minutes as the conference schedule progressed. He received a starting role for the first time in his career against Purdue and averaged nearly six points and six rebounds per game from that point forward. Despite being under early-season scrutiny from the fanbase and the media, Black managed to turn his year around once the calendar hit January.

In what was easily his most complete performance of the season, Black pulled down a career-high 13 boards and also managed to score 15 points. His double-double was even more impressive considering he had to go up against Purdue's 7-foot-2 Isaac Haas and 7-foot A.J. Hammons for the majority of the game.