UCLA freshman point guard Tyger Campbell is out for season with torn knee ligament

UCLA’s basketball team has sustained another significant blow to its depth after freshman point guard Tyger Campbell suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in practice Sunday that will force him to miss the season.

Campbell becomes the second Bruin to be sidelined for the season after freshman power forward Shareef O’Neal recently was diagnosed with an electrical problem in his heart. O’Neal is expected to make a full recovery in time for the 2019-20 season after surgery.

The loss of the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Campbell will require sophomore Jaylen Hands, the only other point guard on the roster, to play heavy minutes while becoming more of a distributor than he was in his first college season. Hands averaged 2.6 assists and 9.9 points per game last season as the backup to Aaron Holiday.

Campbell proved to be a heady playmaker while averaging 15.5 points and 7.2 assists per game and making 42% of his three-pointers as a senior at La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind. He had reclassified before his senior season so that he could enter college this fall.

UCLA will also be without power forward Alex Olesinski for at least the season’s first two months because of a stress fracture in his right foot.