CoCo Hillary, one of Appalachian State's leading receivers and the top kickoff returner in the Southern Conference, will miss the rest of the season as result of ligament damage suffered in his right knee during practice on Tuesday.
Hillary was participating in a one-on-one drill with receivers and defensive backs when he landed awkwardly after making a catch.
"He was coming across the middle, running his route, and he kind of jumped up for it and when he came down his knee just buckled -- it got caught in his sweatpants -- and he just landed awkwardly on it," said Blake Elder, a receiver for the Mountaineers. "There wasn't any contact with a defensive back. It was just a very unfortunate accident."
Hillary is expected to have surgery to repair the damage in the next week or two.
Hillary, a junior from Edgefield, S.C., ranks seventh on ASU's all-time list for receiving yards with 1,588.
This season, he ranks second for the Mountaineers in catches (37), is third in receiving yards (514) and leads in touchdown receptions (four).
"CoCo is the leader of our corps," Elder said. "You definitely can't replace CoCo and the things that he does on the field, his work ethic and the way he plays the game. He has the most experience out of our whole receiving corps and he just brings so much to the table every game.
"We hate losing him. As far as replacing him, we're all going to have to step up and take that on our shoulders as a group. There's definitely a void there, but I believe we have playmakers capable of stepping up."
DeAndre Presley, a former backup quarterback who moved to receiver earlier this season, is listed behind Hillary on the Mountaineers' depth chart.
Hillary has returned 21 kickoffs for 522 yards and a league-leading average of 24.9 per return.
B.J. Frazier is the only other Appalachian State receiver to have returned a kickoff this season.
Running back Devon Radford and punt returner Travaris Cadet both worked at returning kickoffs in practice yesterday.
tbowman@wsjournal.com.
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