Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta said Dallas Lauderdale was “pretty much” full-go in practice on Friday even though there is no promise of when he’ll return to the court after breaking the ring finger in his right hand on Oct. 12

“His hand obviously isn't where it needs to be but his conditioning was good and he was pretty hungry out there to get into it,” Matta said.

Lauderdale suffered the break in a pickup game with his teammates just before the start of preseason camp. Doctors reset the bone and added three screws in surgery on Oct. 14 and claimed it would take Lauderdale, a 6-8 junior center, 4-6 weeks to fully recover.

Apparently, Lauderdale is doing just about everything in practice now.

“He’s got a cast-type thing,” Matta said. “You can ask Z (Zisis Sarikopoulos) about it. It’s soft but it went across the side of his face. It was kind of reminiscent of Greg (Oden) a couple years ago where Kyle (Madsen) had it in his face.”

Lauderdale did not even suit up for OSU’s exhibition game with Walsh last week and isn’t expected to be on the floor for the team’s season opener Monday with Alcorn State (7 p.m. Eastern, Big Ten Network). However, he should pass his four-week check-up on Wednesday and receive clearance to play in the second game Thursday vs. James Madison.

“I don’t think he’ll play Monday, but hopefully on Thursday he’ll be good to go,” Matta said. 

Lauderdale started all but two games last season and averaged 4.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He also shot 71.8 percent from the field.