Smithtown West's Patrick Burke lost for rest of season
Patrick Burke of Smithtown West brings the ball downcourt during a Suffolk League I boys basketball game against host Northport on Thursday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Smithtown West star Patrick Burke will miss the rest of the boys basketball season after having surgery to re-locate a displaced left kneecap and repair a stretched ligament on Friday morning at Huntington Hospital.
The 6-8 ½ Burke was injured early in the Bulls’ road win at Northport on Thursday. A teammate who drew a charging call on a Northport player fell backward into Burke. Trainers and medical personnel tended to him on the court for approximately 15 minutes before he was taken off on a stretcher, Bulls coach Mike Agostino said.
Burke, a senior, had a similar kneecap injury when he was a sophomore, after the basketball season, but he said in a text message that that injury did not require surgery. Agostino said the expected recovery time from this surgery is six months.
Burke said Saturday that he was not up to an interview. Nicole Burke, his mother, said “he’s taking this pretty well” and Agostino said Burke’s teammates “are heartbroken for him.”
Burke was following up on a sensational junior season in which he was named to Newsday’s all-Long Island first team. He was averaging 21.1 points and 14 rebounds going into Thursday’s game and is a big part of why Smithtown West is 16-2 and has been considered one of the contenders for the Suffolk Class AA championship.
Burke is 23 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
As to how the Bulls will compensate for the loss, Agostino said “this is an opportunity for other guys to fill the void, but we aren’t fooling ourselves. Patrick might have been the most automatic guy in the county to get you two points when you absolutely needed them.”
“Patrick has been on their minds since this happened,” he added. “Being on the court — practicing and playing — might be the easiest thing for them.”
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Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
