On the opening day of the college basketball season, one of the sports biggest stars went down with an injury. During Saint Louis' opening game against Santa Clara, star center Robbie Avila went down with an ankle injury and was helped off the floor, according to Jeff Goodman of Field of 68.

Cause for concern around the injury is increased by the fact that Avila was dealing with a sprained ankle throughout the preseason and had made it back just in time for the season opener. Avila is in his first season with Saint Louis after transferring from Indiana State last spring, following his head coach Josh Schertz who made the leap first.

Avila's multifaceted skillset was on full display before he left the game, as he finished with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists. Saint Louis was unable to survive the loss of Avila, as they lost to Santa Clara 85-78 to open the season.

If Avila is forced to miss time, it would be a huge blow for Saint Louis going forward. He was the best player on an Indiana State team that narrowly missed out on an NCAA Tournament at-large bid last season, averaging 17.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Indiana State nearly won the NIT championship last season on the back of Avila. In the tournament semifinals against Utah, Avila had a monster 26-point, 10-rebound game to help Saint Louis advance to the championship game.

Related NewsArticle continues below
Baylor’s Jeremy Roach ruled out for rest of UConn game with troubling injury
Baylor’s Jeremy Roach ruled out for rest of UConn game with troubling injury
Louisville basketball’s Koren Johnson makes redshirt move after season-ending injury
Louisville basketball’s Koren Johnson makes redshirt move after season-ending injury
Gonzaga basketball gets injury update on freshman center
Gonzaga basketball gets injury update on freshman center

Avila's presence, along with fellow Indiana State transfer Isaiah Swope, is a big reason that Saint Louis is projected to be one of the best teams in the Atlantic 10 this season. The Billikens finished fourth in the preseason media poll, earning two first place votes in the process. There is a lot of buzz that the A-10 could be a multi-bid league in 2024-25, and Saint Louis is one of the teams who has a chance to contend for one of those bids.

Saint Louis' schedule is fairly soft moving forward, so it should be able to survive without Avila if he needs a few weeks to recover before conference play. Still, it's never good to see one of the best players in the sport go down.