Duke point guard Jason Williams, the early favorite for Player of the Year honors this season, suffered a broken hand and is expected to be out four to six weeks.

		Thursday, Aug. 30 Many will now second guess Jason Williams' decision to stay another year at Duke. When Williams decided against entering the NBA draft early after his sophomore season, those who cheered the decision also crossed their fingers that Williams would not suffer an injury. Should Williams, or any other star player, suffer a catastrophic injury, kids would be more likely to bolt school early, using the threat of injury as ammunition for their argument that staying is far riskier that going. A season-ending injury to a player like Williams would not make his decision a bad one, nor would an injury-free season make it a good one. It's just not that simple. Each decision is different, and each kid that makes the decision has different motivations. It's not wrong for every kid to go, and its not right for every kid to stay. More Bilas analysis

The injury occurred while Williams was playing basketball Wednesday afternoon at Wilson Recreation Center and was described as a clean break of his third metacarpal on his left, non-shooting hand. Williams will have a cast placed on the hand Friday.

"The good news is he's responded favorably in the past 24 hours," said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "We're very optimistic about a quick return."

Williams led the Blue Devils to a national championship last season, averaging a team-high 21.6 points. He is expected to be ready for practice Oct. 13, but he won't be able to participate in preseason conditioning drills and individual workouts before Oct. 13.

A unanimous first team All-America and the NABC National Player of the Year last season, Williams also averaged 6.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds while becoming the first ACC scoring champion from Duke since Danny Ferry in 1989. Williams was a finalist for the Wooden Award last season and the only player in the country during the 2000-01 season to be ranked among the nation's top 20 in both scoring (15th) and assists (19th). His 851 points in 2000-01 set a Duke single season scoring record that had stood for 50 years.

Projected as the likely overall No. 1 pick in the 2001 NBA draft, the 6-foot-2 Williams decided against leaving Duke early, instead focusing on helping the Blue Devils' repeat as national champions. The junior took the summer off rather than play for the United States at the recent World Basketball Championship for Young Men in Japan. Duke teammates Chris Duhon, Carlos Boozer and Dahntay Jones led the U.S. to a goal medal.

ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz contributed to this report.