Towson basketball player injured in shooting out for the rest of the season

The Towson Tigers will have to learn to adjust to life without their leader.

Head coach Pat Skerry announced Tuesday that senior forward John Davis will miss the remainder of the season after being shot just below the right knee outside his Philadelphia home Saturday night in an apparent drive-by.

“Thank goodness it wasn’t worse,” said Skerry. “We talked this morning, he told me ‘Coach, I feel really blessed. It could have been a lot worse.’ The basketball piece will obviously be difficult for him. He wants to win. He wants to play. He wants to compete. But, I think of what the flip-side could’ve been.  He’ll be fine. John’s a tough dude.”

The school isn’t saying much more about the situation, citing the fact that it’s still an open police investigation. 

RELATED: Towson University basketball player injured in shooting in Philadelphia

Davis was traveling back to campus Tuesday. Skerry says while Davis won’t be playing he’ll still be with the team moving forward, sitting right next to him on the bench.

Davis needs only one more win to become the Tigers’ winningest player in their division one history.

Losing Davis is a major obstacle the Tigers will have to overcome as they hit a critical point in their schedule. They’re two games out of first place in the Colonial Athletic Association with four games to play. They host Elon on Thursday, James Madison on Saturday.

“This is a huge opportunity to stay in the race and to keep getting better. We’re expecting an emotionally charged crowd,” said Skerry.

That crowd gets its chance to honor Davis and the rest of the senior class on Senior Day, which is set for Saturday.

Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerABC2 and Facebook

Download the ABC2 News app for the iPhone, Kindle and Android.