Guard Brandon Williams is not reporting to Arizona for preseason workouts this fall, another sign that his Wildcats career may be over — or at least delayed for another season.
Williams missed all of last season after undergoing a second surgery on a congenital condition above his right knee. And while Williams has resumed basketball activities near his Southern California home, he has no immediate plans to leave there.
All other Arizona scholarship players have reported to Tucson already except Lithuanian brothers Azuolas and Tautvilas Tubelis, who have been expected to arrive before UA’s start of classes Monday.
“Status with Arizona remains the same,” Williams’ stepfather, Chris Wright, told the Star via text message Friday. “The question still remains if there will even be a season. There is no confirmation, so why not keep all options open?”
Wright said Williams remains a member of the Wildcats, though UA coaches have lined up the maximum of 13 scholarship players in addition to Williams for the upcoming season. Williams could only remain on the team if he is on a medical-leave scholarship, pays his own way or if another scholarship player drops off the roster before the season begins.
Wright declined to say if his son was on a medical leave scholarship now, citing student-privacy concerns.
UA coach Sean Miller has not been available for comment since a Zoom media interview on June 2, when he said Williams’ status had not changed. When asked then about the scholarship situation, and Williams’ statement on an podcast that it was “just a matter of where” he would play in 2020-21, Miller quickly transitioned from the subject.
“Yep, I understand all that,” Miller said. “I think just from his perspective, he hasn’t played in over a year. I talked about this briefly last fall, with all that we’ve gone through his program the last couple years, one of the highlights for me is that we were able to hang on and recruit Brandon to Arizona not one time but twice. I mean, Brandon is a heck of a basketball player.”
Williams committed to Arizona in June 2017, decommitted in March 2018 in the wake of an ESPN report that Miller allegedly discussed a pay-for-play scheme with an agent — and then re-committed two months later. He was the only one of three UA commits in the fall of 2017 to remain with the Wildcats, with Jahvon Quinerly heading instead to Villanova and Shareef O’Neal to UCLA.
Williams averaged 11.4 points per game as a freshman, becoming the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer, though he missed a month during Pac-12 play because of his knee issue. Williams has suffered since high school with osteochondritis dissecans, a condition that can result in bone and cartilage breaking free and causing pain or restricted motion.
Brandon Williams averaged 11.4 points per game for UA in the 2018-19 season, then spent last year wearing street clothes to Wildcats home games after having surgery for his longtime knee issue.
Williams had surgery on the knee as a junior at Crespi High School, missing all of the following summer and the early portion of his senior season, then had surgery again after the 2018-19 season. He spent last season in Tucson, taking classes and wearing street clothes to UA home games.
Williams has removed references to Arizona from his Twitter bio. During a May podcast posted to Instagram, Williams said he was “definitely going to play (next season)… it’s just a matter of where at this point.”
On Aug. 5, he tweeted “I’m back,” drawing excited responses from UA fans. Williams quickly deleted the tweet. Wright said then that he was referring to the fact that he felt like his game has returned.
Considering Williams’ talent and productivity as a freshman in 2018-19, there’s little question he will have options to play somewhere if he is healthy.
While he’s waiting to figure it out, Williams will continue to take UA classes remotely this fall and continue to rehab the knee.
“Until things open back up,” Wright said, “we don’t know what his next move will be.”
Rim shots
- Former Marana High School standout D’Marco Dunn, who blew up into a four-star recruit after moving to North Carolina last year and leading his high school team to a 30-0 record, listed Arizona among his final seven choices.
In an video interview with Absolute Basketball Company, Dunn also listed Texas, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Clemson, Georgia and Louisville. Of Arizona, Dunn said, “Coach Miller and (his staff) want their hometown kid back. They think I’d do really well and represent them.”
French forward Daniel Batcho and Turkish guard Tibet Gorener arrived in Tucson on Thursday night, UA confirmed. The Wildcats started arriving on Aug. 9 and have been asked to isolate for a week before beginning strength and conditioning drills.
The Star's Justin Spears, Bruce Pascoe and Alec White break down the current NBA Wildcats remaining in the bubble for playoffs. Plus, what does the Pac-12 college basketball season moving to January mean for Arizona and its rotation of players? The guys also discuss Los Angeles-area combo guard K.J. Simpson committing to the UA, becoming the Wildcats' first commit of the 2021 class. To end the podcast, Star investigative reporter Caitlin Schmidt shares details from her latest story on the UA track and field program, which highlights several sexual assault incidents and a "rotten culture" within the UA track and field program.
Photos of Tucson's Historic El Conquistador Hotel, demolished in 1968
1929 Aerials of Tucson, El Conquistador Hotel
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This is none other than the 70-room El Conquistador Hotel, photographed in 1929 — a year after it opened.
1929 Tucson, El Conquistador Hotel
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In this 1929 photo, Hi Corbett Field, bottom, can be seen with the newly developed Colonia Solana and El Encanto Estates to the north. To the east of El Encanto is the El Conquistador Hotel and its water tower across the street.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Aerial photo of the El Conquistador Hotel taken in 1940. The hotel would share the property with El Con Shopping Center to the east (right) after the property was sold in 1957. The El Conquistador opened in 1928, was torn down in 1968.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The El Conquistador Hotel in January, 1963. The hotel was designed by architect Annie Graham Rockfellow, who graduated from M.I.T. and taught at the University of Arizona prior to joining architect Henry O. Jaastad's firm in Tucson. She also designed the first buildings for the Desert Sanatorium, now Tucson Medical Center, and numerous homes and churches in Tucson and Southern Arizona.
El Conquistador Hotel
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A Royal typewriter with hotel stationary behind the front desk of the abandoned El Conquistador Hotel in March, 1968, awaiting demolition.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Aerial view of the El Conquistador Hotel in 1954. The hotel would share the property with El Con Shopping Center to the east (right) after the property was sold in 1957. The "open-air mall" began taking shape in 1959. The marriage didn't last and the hotel was closed by 1964 and demolished in 1968 to make way for the mall footprint in existence today.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The pool at El Conquistador Hotel around 194l.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The nearly empty pool behind the abandoned El Conquistador Hotel in March, 1968, awaiting demolition. The hotel was built on 120-acres, so there was plenty of for the pool, casitas, tennis courts and a riding stable. The pool was constructed years after the original hotel opened.
El Conquistador Hotel
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El Conquistador Hotel and grounds on Aug. 15, 1951.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Cast iron tubs and other bathroom fixtures salvaged from the abandoned El Conquistador Hotel in March, 1968, as it was undergoing demolition. The tower shows the building's Mission-style architecture.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Eagles adorned the porte-cochere (carriage porch) outside the lobby of the El Conquistador Hotel. Photo taken March, 1968, when hotel was awaiting demolition.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Historic bathroom fixtures, windows and doors salvaged from the hotel before demolition sit in the lobby of El Conquistador Hotel in March, 1968.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The boarded-up windows below the Terrace Lounge sign, which beckoned bar patrons but stands silent in 1968 at the abandoned El Conquistador Hotel.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The El Con Shopping Center during construction in August, 1961. As designed, it was open to outside air at both ends. It had "indirect air conditioning," according to the Tucson Citizen, "with cool air released through entrances to stores on either side." The original tenants included Woolworth's, Kresge, El Rancho Market, Lerner's, House of Fabric, GallenKamp Shoes and Kinney Shoes.
El Conquistador Hotel
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El Con mall in January, 1972, shortly after it was enclosed after more than 10 years as an open-air mall.
El Conquistador hotel dome
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Signs of new growth in the northwest section of Tucson included the Casa Blanca Plaza on North Oracle Road and West Rudasill Road as it was on Nov. 16, 1972. The dome on the right was salvaged from the El Conquistador Hotel on East Broadway Boulevard when it was dismantled.
