The Vanderbilt basketball team has suffered a devastating loss before the start of conference play.

Guard Darius Garland, a former 5-star recruit out of Brentwood, Tenn., has suffered a knee injury that will keep him sidelined the remainder of the 2018-19 campaign. Though the season is relatively young, Garland was already making a big impact, averaging 16.2 points per game.

In October, the SEC media predicted coach Bryce Drew’s Commodores would finish No. 8 in the conference. Most of those media members probably had Garland in mind when forecasting Vanderbilt’s season. Drew’s squad is off to a 4-1 start on the year so far.