Cotton Suffers Another Injury

For the second time in three seasons, standout Long Beach State guard James Cotton suffered a serious injury during preseason practice, but Cotton said Monday he will be ready to start the regular season.

A redshirt junior, Cotton suffered a broken rib landing on a teammate’s foot in pursuit of a loose ball during the 49ers’ second practice session Sunday night. Cotton was examined at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where X-rays revealed a fracture in his lower right rib.

Cotton used a medical redshirt season during 1994-95 because of an ankle injury. He played in only one game that season after severely spraining his left ankle during the 49ers’ final exhibition game.

“I was just going for a steal,” Cotton said of his most recent injury. “I play hard so it comes with the territory.”

Long Beach officials said Cotton, who led the Big West Conference in scoring last season and was selected first-team all-conference, will be out indefinitely. Cotton, though, is confident of a speedy return.

“It hurts, but I’ll be fine,” said Cotton, who averaged 19.5 points last season. “The important thing is that I’ll be ready for Wyoming--that’s all that matters.”

Long Beach opens the regular season Nov. 25 against Wyoming at the Pyramid. Cotton, the team captain, said he plans to resume his personal workouts “in a couple of weeks” and initially will wear a protective rib-cage jacket when he returns to practice.

“It’s only going to be a couple of weeks,” Cotton said. “It’s not going to be a problem.”