Just hours after the FBI threw a dark cloud over the Arizona basketball program Tuesday, the Wildcats lost one of their key players for at least two months.
UA confirmed late Wednesday that sophomore wing Rawle Alkins underwent surgery to repair a broken bone in his right foot. He suffered the injury during “voluntary activities” with his teammates on Tuesday afternoon, the UA said. On Tuesday morning, UA assistant coach Book Richardson was arrested on suspicion of federal bribery and fraud charges as part of a sweeping FBI investigation into college basketball.
UA said the estimated recovery time for Alkins is 8-12 weeks, which would mean he might be healthy enough to play as Pac-12 play begins over the New Year.
Without Alkins, Arizona could turn to freshmen Brandon Randolph or Emmanuel Akot in the starting lineup.
Randolph started in place of Alkins during Arizona’s second exhibition game in Spain after Alkins hurt his shoulder. A 6-foot-6-inch guard from Yonkers, N.Y., Randolph scored 21 points in UA’s first game in Spain, while Akot is a versatile 6-6 forward whom coach Sean Miller said might even back up at point guard.
Sophomore guard Dylan Smith, a transfer from UNC Asheville who becomes eligible this season, could also receive more minutes in Alkins’ absence.
Alkins was Arizona’s third-leading scorer (10.9 points per game) and third-leading rebounder (4.9 per game) last season. He entered the 2017 NBA Draft pool and participated in the predraft combine last May but opted to return for his sophomore season.
Alkins has worked on both his game and his body, trimming his body fat from 12 to six or seven percent.
“Rawle loves the game of basketball,” Miller said then. “It’s almost a skill he possesses. Nobody loves to work on their game and practice more, and when we practice he always wants to make it competitive.
“When you have somebody who loves the game and is willing to put the work in, it becomes contagious and I thought Rawle had a big impact on last year’s team in that way. .. He’s going to have a great season.”
Before UA left for an exhibition trip to Spain last month, Alkins indicated he was confident the rest of the team would have a great season, too.
“The biggest thing is to be consistent and confident,” Alkins said. “We have a great group of guys who have confidence and we just have to be eager to play.”
