Sophomore forward Marek Nelson may be out for the season after aggravating a back injury during practice Friday, head coach Rick Stansbury announced Saturday. 

Nelson missed four games earlier this season after being suspended due to a DUI arrest. He played just one minute in WKU’s loss to Florida International Thursday. 

“It’s not good, whatever it is,” Stansbury said. “He’s a young man, as you well know, we need that energy. He’s a guy that can come in and guard one of those stretch four guys that can bounce and shoot it. So, we’ve got to continue to adjust with that some. We’ll miss his energy if he’s not able to go.”

Nelson has started in six games this season, including four straight starts before his suspension. 

“He made a move, and he went to his knees,” Stansbury said of Nelson getting hurt. “He couldn’t even hardly walk. I think our doctors are going to dig into it a lot more now, and like I said, our trainer told me yesterday we could have to shut him down for the rest of the season.”

Nelson is averaging 2.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game. 

Digital managing editor Jeremy Chisenhall can be reached at 270-745-6291 and [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JSChisenhall.