According to a source familiar with the situation, North Carolina defensive back Marcus Allen is showing early signs of improvement in his rehabilitation following knee surgery. Allen sustained a partial meniscus tear in his left knee during UNC’s spring break, which has prevented his participation in the football team’s spring practices. The Tar Heels are currently conducting their 15 allotted spring practice sessions, culminating in the spring game at Kenan Stadium on April 20th.
“The surgery was successful,” a source informed Inside Carolina on Wednesday. “Rehabilitation is well underway, and the individual is anticipated to be fully prepared for summer workouts.”
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UNC’s Marcus Allen Out For Spring, Rehabbing After Surgery
Four to six weeks is the expected timetable on a full recovery for the starting cornerback.
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina defensive back Marcus Allen already is making progress in his rehab process after undergoing a surgical procedure last week to repair a knee injury, per a source close to the situation.
He suffered a partial meniscus tear in his left knee, the result of a tweak that occurred away from campus during UNC’s spring break for students, and hasn’t participated in the football team’s spring practice session. The Tar Heels are working through the 15 practices allotted on their spring schedule, which concludes April 20 with the spring game at Kenan Stadium.
“Surgery went great,” the source told Inside Carolina on Wednesday. “Already deep into rehab and expected to be good for summer workouts.”
Four to six weeks is the expected timetable for a full recovery. Allen will be a junior next season. He has played in all of UNC’s 27 games across the last two seasons, and started at cornerback in all 13 games last season, when coach Mack Brown’s Tar Heels went 8-5 and finished tied for sixth place in the ACC.
The rangy 6-foot-1, 190-pound Allen was regarded as the Carolina defense’s top cover man on the outside last season. He led the team with eight pass breakups, ranked seventh overall with 49 tackles, and grabbed an interception during the Tar Heels’ blowout of Campbell in November.
People around the UNC football team had noted that Allen added weight during the team’s winter workout program, and has looked stronger and more explosive. He had surgery last week on March 26, after MRI testing confirmed the extent of the injury.
Allen and the ballhawking Alijah Huzzie project as UNC’s top cornerbacks for next season, which kicks off on Aug. 29 with a Thursday night opener at Minnesota. Huzzie, who led the Tar Heels with three interceptions last season, and junior college transfer Tyrane Stewart were working as the first-team cornerbacks on March 19, when Carolina began its spring practice session.
That first day of spring practice was open to reporters, and Stick Lane, NC State transfer Jakeen Harris and true freshman early enrollee Ty White mostly rounded out the first-team secondary. Harris and Will Hardy were practicing in yellow non-contact jerseys. Allen was wearing a red jersey designating an injury or recovery, and thus not participating, and walking with a limp that day.
UNC is under the direction of a new defensive coordinator in Geoff Collins, the former head coach at Georgia Tech and Temple. Some of Allen’s most productive games last season included six tackles and three pass breakups against Appalachian State, six tackles and two pass breakups against Miami, a career-high nine tackles at Georgia Tech, and five tackles at NC State in the regular-season finale.
