BYU Guard Dawson Baker Out for Season after Major Knee Injury

Dawson Baker announced a major knee injury on his Instagram, which will end his season. Baker revealed MRI results showed a “complete torn ACL, torn lateral meniscus, mild PLC involvement, grade 2 MCL and LCL sprains, bone brusing, muscle/tendon strains and small impact fractures.”

Baker has battled foot injuries and multiple surgeries during his time at BYU, and the knee injury is another setback for the veteran guard. Baker was BYU’s top guard option off the best and best scorer in the second unit, and scored 11 points and 12 points, respectively, in recent games versus UConn and Wisconsin. The injury is early enough in the season that Baker would qualify for a medical redshirt and return for a seventh season of college next year if he chose, which is something he will have to weigh over the next several months. Dawson qualified for a medical redshirt his first season at BYU in 2023-2024 after a foot injury sidelined him for the majority of the season.

BYU’s backcourt depth was already thin with Nate Pickens out for the season, and Dawson adds to that. Dawson also gave BYU shooting and experience off the bench. With Dawson out for the year, Austrian freshman Alexsej Kostic will likely get some minutes in a backup point guard and combo guard role. Kostic came in with a shooting reputation, and has shot 3-7 from three in the 10 minutes he’s played.

#1 JUCO recruit KJ Perry enrolls for winter semester before Big 12 play, and the absence of Pickens and Baker could make BYU and Perry decide to burn his redshirt season and play the back half of the year.