Jao Ituka will miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury suffered in the preseason and undergo surgery this week, Wake Forest’s men’s basketball program announced Tuesday afternoon.

Wake’s second-year guard has played in six games this season, scoring 10 points in his debut against South Carolina State on Nov. 23 but only scoring eight combined points in the other five games. He hasn’t played since Wake’s blowout loss at Rutgers on Dec. 17.

“After suffering a knee injury in the preseason, our entire staff, Jao and his family have come to the decision that taking this time to get healthy for next season is the best decision,” coach Steve Forbes said through a news release. “Jao has been re-evaluated by our doctors and will have surgery on Friday to correct his issue.”

The 6-1, 196-pound guard will qualify for a medical redshirt this season, meaning he’ll still have three seasons of eligibility with the Deacons. Medical redshirts are granted by the NCAA when a player participates in less than 30% of a team’s games, and Wake Forest will play a minimum of 32 games this season.

Ituka was in his first season with the Deacons after transferring from Marist, where he was the MAAC rookie of the year last season.

The injury occurred in Wake’s closed-door scrimmage against Ohio State on Oct. 23. Ituka played five minutes against the Buckeyes and looked good, by Forbes’ account as recently as Monday, but tweaked a knee.

It’s an injury that was more serious than initially thought, and the best course of action became season-ending surgery.