NEWARK - NJIT men's basketball student-athlete Kjell de Graaf is expected to miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season due to a knee injury, the program announced on Thursday.

de Graaf, who was averaging career-bests of 10.4 ppg and 4.8 rpg in his sixth and final season as a Highlander, suffered the injury last Thursday evening at Binghamton.

"Kjell had been playing tremendous basketball and we are heartbroken for him," announced first-year NJIT Head Coach Grant Billmeier. "Kjell's basketball future is bright and I'm excited to see him have a full recovery on his knee and have a long professional career."

de Graaf served as the hero in two of NJIT's victories this seasons. The Netherlands native's putback with 2.0 left was the game-winning shot in an 80-77 win at Fordham on December 6. de Graaf and the Highlanders won again on Jan. 27 at UMBC thanks to another put-back, which gave the Highlanders a 75-74 win after the squad came back from a 22-point halftime deficit. The forward scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds, all of which came during the second half comeback against the Retreivers. 

The Highlanders return to action on Thursday evening when they host Vermont at 7pm in the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center.