CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- North Carolina junior Theo Pinson had surgery on the broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot Wednesday in Charlotte.
Coach Roy Williams said Dr. Robert Anderson of the Carolinas Medical Center was performing the surgery. Anderson is the same surgeon who operated on Pinson in May 2015, when he broke the same bone in his left foot as a freshman.
Pinson will be out indefinitely, which will hurt the Tar Heels in more ways than points and rebounds.
"It'll be real interesting to see what he does the next eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 weeks -- whatever it is," Williams said. "His leadership was in a different way but very necessary. He was playing the best basketball I've ever seen him play."
Pinson revealed pain in his foot when the Tar Heels practiced at Fort Bragg in North Carolina last week, according to teammate Joel Berry. He was expected to compete for a starting position.
In his absence, that role could fall to senior guard Nate Britt. Sophomore Kenny Williams and freshmen Brandon Robinson and Seventh Woods also could be in the mix.
But none can fill the character void of Pinson, according to Williams.
"He was in a different way one of the leaders of our team," Williams said. "He was one with personality, that gregarious personality, the positive thinking the positive feeling the sunshine every day instead of the clouds. So he was really, really important and still will be."
Pinson, a 6-foot-6 Greensboro, North Carolina, native, averaged 4.5 points last season, appearing in every game for UNC.