NBA star John Wall plans to finish college with Kentucky during injury rehab

Washington Wizards star John Wall is going to miss approximately the next 12 months with a ruptured left Achilles tendon after slipping and falling in his home.

He's using that time to go back to school.

Wall, who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Wizards in 2010 after one year at Kentucky, said he’s going to use the time off from the injury as an opportunity to finish college, according to The Athletic's Fred Katz, who noted that Wall said he's close to graduating.

Wall revealed at February's All-Star weekend last year that he promised his dad, who died when Wall was 8 years old, that he would finish school.

In a letter to his dad published in The Undefeated last January, Wall said, "I know you’re proud of the man I’ve become. I’m the first in our family to attend college, and although I have not yet completed my degree, it is a goal that I hope to accomplish."

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Wall, a five-time All-Star, said Friday that he's in good spirits following the injury diagnosis. 

"Something I can't control," Wall said. "But my love for the game is still there, and I'll come back and conquer this like it was just a little step in the road."

The Wizards are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings, and without Wall, the odds of a playoff push are slim. They traded away two key players, Otto Porter Jr. and Markieff Morris, before Thursday's trade deadline.