Rivers to Miss the Rest of the Season after Undergoing Knee Surgery Tuesday

PROVO -- BYU senior forward Silester Rivers will miss the remainder of the basketball season after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday.

Rivers, who has been slowed by ankle and knee injuries all season, received the 30-minute procedure from the team's orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Kirt Kimball, after surgery was determined to be in his best interest. The surgery was successful and will require 4-6 weeks of recovery.

The damage to River's left knee was considered severe or a grade three. He had chondral defects under his left knee cap and the groove in his femur bone was worn down extensively. Rivers had the same surgery on his right knee in September of 1998 prior to his junior year.

"Silester's been experiencing a great deal of pain in both his ankle and his knee," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "It's been frustrating for him because his injuries have limited his ability to perform this season. Getting the surgery done at this time was determined to be in his best interest. Obviously, this comes at a difficult time for us. We are already very thin on the front line. We will especially miss his ability to defend and rebound."

Rivers played in all 25 BYU games so far this season while averaging 6.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17 minutes. He started four games. Last year he averaged 11 points and 5.7 rebounds in 25 minutes while starting in 22 of BYU's 28 games.