Johnson breaks foot, won't play in Europe

Villanova freshman Ty Johnson, a highly touted point guard who played his senior year at Montrose Christian Academy, has a broken foot and will not play for the Wildcats on their upcoming trip to Europe.

Wildcats coach Jay Wright said Thursday the 6-foot-3 Johnson suffered the injury last month in a pickup game and underwent surgery. He said the freshman is expected to be ready for the start of pre-season practice in October.

Wright said Johnson will travel with the team next month on a week-long tour of France and the Netherlands but will not play.

"We really needed to see him this summer as a point guard," Wright said. "But he's not going to be able to play. So that's a disappointment. We needed him to play.

"It happened right after he got here. That's a spot that's going to be important for us, the backup point guard spot."

Wright said he has inserted another freshman, 6-6 Darrun Hilliard of Bethlehem, at the backup point guard position. He said freshman JayVaughn Pinkston also will see some time there. The 6-7 Pinkston returned to the team June 1 after sitting out the entire 2010-11 season because of a university suspension.

Johnson, who attended Plainfield (N.J.) High School before going to Montrose Christian for his final year of eligibility, averaged 15 points a game last season while leading his team to a 24-1 record. The school also produced current 'Nova players Mouphtaou Yarou and Isaiah Armwood.

--Joe Juliano