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Although the Duke Chronicle reported on Monday that Duke Blue Devils guard Chloe Wells has been shut down for the season due shin splints, multiple sources tell Swish Appeal that she is no longer apart of the team at all.
The game notes posted at GoDuke.com for tonight's game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons neither make mention of the 5-foot-7 senior participating in pre-game senior night activities along with the team's other seniors nor explain why she won't be present aside from the fact that she has missed the team's last nine games. Yet as of last night, Wells' absence didn't seem like an oversight as they were quite explicit about how many seniors are currently with the team and which will be honored.
Screenshot of GoDuke.com game notes about senior night (click the image to enlarge).
Wells' absence from senior night activities is not merely explained by her injury status: fellow senior Chelsea Gray suffered a season-ending knee injury on January 12 and is participating in senior night, making Wells' absence all the more conspicuous.
Wells’ last game with Duke was January 19 vs. Virginia Tech and she has not been traveled with the team recently. Up until Duke's recent loss at Notre Dame the team's game notes indicated that Wells had been "...missing the last six games with a shin injury...". As of the Notre Dame game, that statement was reduced to read that Wells had been "missing the last seven games..." without any indication of an injury. Sources informed Swish Appeal earlier this week that she was in fact no longer on the team rather than being shut down due to shin splints.
It has already been a really difficult year for the Blue Devils as they lost one guard to transfer (Kianna Holland) and then lost their two point guards - Chelsea Gray and Alexis Jones - to season-ending injuries. With Wells no longer with the team, Duke is left in a precarious situation at the point guard position. They will probably lean heavily on senior forward Tricia Liston - who has also assumed increased ball handling responsibilities since Gray's absence - to handle ball handling duties going forward,
Wells was noted for her exceptional three-point shooting - shooting 42.3% in 19 games this season - solid ball handling and grit. She was averaging 3.7 points per game in 11.1 minutes per game.
For more on the Blue Devils' season, check out our storystream about their injury woes.