The scooter is gone. The boot is not.

That was the result of Reese Waters’ latest trip to the doctor to evaluate the stress fracture in his right foot, still healing but not healed, progress but not enough to transition to an aggressive rehabilitation path toward playing for San Diego State this season.

And with each passing day, the chances of that happening are dwindling.

“I was hoping he’d be cleared,” said coach Brian Dutcher, whose No. 23-ranked Aztecs (7-2) play Cal (7-4) in San Jose on Saturday night. “I was hoping it would be fully healed, but it’s not. I guess it’s not a surprise. We know what that break is. It’s pretty significant, and it takes a while. The encouraging thing is, it is healing. I think there will be a point when he will be back to full health on that foot, and that’s all we could ever hope for.

“But we’ll see when that is.”

A CT scan in late October showed what an X-ray and MRI did not: The incessant pain on the top of Waters’ right foot since feeling a twinge at practice Oct. 8 was a stress fracture of the navicular bone, which can be tricky to heal because of limited blood flow to the area. SDSU’s top returning scorer and only member of the Mountain West preseason all-conference team was fitted with a protective boot and given a scooter to keep weight off the foot.

A scan in late November showed some progress, but not enough. Another scan was scheduled for three weeks later, and the expectation was he’d be cleared.

He wasn’t.

The math isn’t working in his favor. Waters has been in a protective boot going on two months, and just rebuilding muscle and stamina figures to take at least three weeks once he sheds it. If he would have been cleared this week, Waters was looking at a mid-January return. Now it could be February at the earliest.

The lingering question: Is it worth burning a year of eligibility to play the final month or six weeks of this season?

“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Dutcher said when asked if he expects the 6-foot-6 senior will play in 2024-25. “I just want Reese to be healthy. I would never bring him back unless he was healthy. That’s the point: When is he going to be healthy? Time will take care of that. He might not be ready for another two or three or four weeks. Then he’ll have a decision to make. But it’s going to be his decision, not my decision.

“I’m sure others have talked to him, and he’s had people planting thoughts in his head about what he should be thinking about. I’m just trying to encourage him to do everything he can to get healthy, get healed, stay in shape and have a good attitude through a really hard time. I’ll have that talk when he’s ready to have that talk.”

Waters was unavailable for comment Thursday, but has three basic options.

He could salvage whatever’s left of his final season of eligibility.

He could shut it down, take a medical redshirt and return next season at SDSU.

He could shut it down, transfer and play elsewhere next season.

Waters is on track to get his undergraduate degree this spring. The latter two options would mean enrolling in a graduate program.

“If he wants to come back and not play this year, of course everybody would be fine with that,” Dutcher said.

“But he’s going to get a degree, and at what point do you say, ‘I’ve had enough college. I’ll try to play whatever I can play this last year, because I’m ready to move beyond college.’ That’s not the talk we’ve had. This is not the time for that. It’s still focused on getting better and trying to get back on the floor.”

No matter what Waters decides, the Aztecs will be without him at least through January now.

It’s nothing new. They haven’t had him all season, slotting sophomore BJ Davis in the starting lineup alongside guards Nick Boyd and Miles Byrd, and bringing Wayne McKinney III and freshman Taj DeGourville off the bench.

That quintet has been effective, leading the Aztecs to an overtime win against then-No. 6 Houston. Both of SDSU’s losses have come to teams ranked in the top 15 nationally.

“We’re in a rhythm that we’re in,” Dutcher said. “We’ll see when the time comes, when he’s gone through all the rehab and healing, if he feels it’s in his best interest and our best interest to come back this year or make the choice of what he wants for his future.”

Originally Published: December 19, 2024 at 6:17 PM PST